Trapped
by xangabell
Summary: His life was as normal as any teens could be who had a wrist watch full of alien DNA and multiple villains who wanted his head. Full Sum inside! Undecided on pairings, but possible slight if you squint Gwevin.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi all! This is my first attempted Ben 10: AF fic, so please bear with me. I apologize before hand if the characters are, well, OOC and I do take constructive critism but not of the flaming kind! Yes I mean you! (points at computer screen) I also realize how short it is, so I'll try and improve on that as well. Anyway, here it is so go on, go read now.**

Full summary: His life was as normal as any teens could be who had a wrist watch full of alien DNA and multiple villains who wanted his head. The 'normalcy' continued when a giant comet plummets into the desert area of Bellewood, turning his ever regular life upside-down from a single event that could make him as dangerous as the criminals who hunted him.

**Disclaimer**: I definitely do not own Ben 10 Alien Force in any way shape or form. I do wish I owned an Echo Echo though…

Chapter 1

The small room flickered in many dark, foreboding hues ranging from a reflective navy blue to an utter inky black. From the sounds that came from the room, it would be obvious that some sort of conflict was playing out that involved an assumed couple whispering excitedly.

"Please Roy, don't go in there! It will kill you like it murdered everyone else!" A female cried, sobbing so hard her shoulders shook as she clung to her boyfriend.

"Don't worry Judy. I know what I have to do now. I know how to destroy it." The male, Roy, whispered in comforting tones to the now hysterical Judy.

"No you don't! Please Roy, I don't want you to be its next victim!" She dropped her whispering tone to emphasize her point but instantly regretted it when a muffled bang resonated from behind the door in which they were hiding. Roy pulled her away and made a gentle shushing sound while pulling out a make shift weapon that resembled some-what of a dart gun. She made to speak when Roy put a finger to her lips gently before moving to open the door. Judy hugged her quaking shoulders and pressed herself against the wall while Roy entered the room the creature stalking them was in.

Gunshots rang out as well as a screaming roar and an angry cry. Judy desperately wished to run in and see her boyfriend, to know he was okay, but found that she didn't need to as he came stumbling out.

"Oh Roy! I'm so sorry I doubted you! You did it… Roy?" Judy stopped in front of him, knowing immediately that something was wrong. Roy appeared to be struggling with himself which could only mean…

"Judy… run… It managed… to infect me… I can't… hold it off… much longer…" Roy managed to choke out before a roar escaped his lips and Judy screamed in pure terror.

"Oh, that was so lame!" Came a third voice. He was lying on his stomach on a bed, resting his chin on his arms, watching the horrific scene play out on the wide television screen.

"Kevin, shut up!" Two other voices, male and female, scolded simultaneously. Said other male was sitting cross-legged on the floor, leaning against the bed while the female sat cross-legged upon it.

"What? That was totally predictable! Don't even tell me you guys didn't see that coming?" Kevin pursued, disgusted with the fact that it was obvious that he could predict the outcome. The teen on the floor, or Ben Tennyson as he was known, physically turned to his friend and gave him a look meant to silence him. Of course Kevin, being Kevin, pointedly refused to take such a hint.

"Kevin, it's just a movie. Lighten up and let it play through." The female, or Gwen Tennyson, Ben's cousin, reasoned, also turning to look at him. Kevin sighed and allowed it to finish which was all of five minutes.

"Well, that sucked. They all died in the end, 'cept the infected dude."

"That's what makes room for a sequel." Ben grinned, holding up a second DVD container. He had to shield his face with it though, when Kevin threw left over popcorn seeds at him.

"No way am I sitting through another one of those, Tennyson."

"Aw, come on Kevin, its scary movie night." Gwen said, standing up to stretch.

"Yeah, and I thought the movies were gonna be scary, not sucky." Kevin frowned, unrelentingly.

"They don't suck, they're just out of date." Ben flipped the DVD cover and pointed to a date that Kevin couldn't see anyway due to the small print. Ben must've realized this as he then read it out loud. "1976."

"Way out of date." Kevin rolled his eyes.

"Blame my dad for being an old movie collector." Ben dared.

"You guys want more popcorn before we start the next one?" Gwen offered. Kevin groaned while Ben nodded, handing her the bowl and watching her leave. He stretched and exhaled before casually grabbing Gwen's spot on the bed.

"Hey, no spot taking." Kevin said quickly, making to push Ben off the bed.

"Room rules, once you leave your spot, it's up for grabs." Ben stated, slapping his hand away.

"Liar, there are no room rules." Kevin got onto his knees so he could use both hands. Ben mimicked him and they were caught in a power struggle. Kevin knew he would win in the brute force category until Ben grabbed the front of his shirt for leverage. Kevin responded by using his free hand to push Ben's face in attempt to make him let go. This forced Ben to look at the window behind him. He grimaced at the growing strain in his neck when something in the sky caught his eye.

"Wait, what's that?" Ben said, attempting to point out the anomaly, his voice muffled slightly from Kevin's hand.

"Don't even think you can distract me…" Kevin smirked, assuming that he was winning if Ben was resorting to the old 'look over there' distraction. Ben knew he wasn't going to get through so he did one of his old moves that used to get Gwen to let go of things; he licked Kevin's hand. Kevin cried out in disgust, immediately letting go causing Ben to fall on the floor with a dull thump while whacking his head against the wall.

"You are so paying for that." Kevin threatened when Ben quickly tried to point out what he saw in the window while rubbing the sore spot at the base of his head.

"Do you see that?" They looked out the window in time to see the meteor-like object disappear behind the view of a six story building. Ben looked back at Kevin, who was wiping his hand in his jeans, suddenly looking serious. "We need to check that out." He was happy that he met no opposition from Kevin.

"Awesome, no more sucky movies." They made to go to the kitchen to inform Gwen, but found her, nearly running into her, at the top of the stairs.

"What, you couldn't wait for the popcorn? I swear you guys…"

"No, Gwen, we saw something we need to check out." After a suspicious eyebrow raise from Gwen, Ben recounted what they caught outside the window.

"Are you sure you weren't just seeing things? After all, that is the same way that monster from the movie got here."

"Nah, I saw it too, but now that you mention it, I'm not so sure it's worth the look." Kevin commented lightly, thinking of the movie he had hated due to its bad acting and even worse special effects.

"We need to check it out to make sure it's not dangerous." Ben said, glaring at Kevin.

"Alright, where do you think it landed?" Gwen asked as Ben thought.

"Just outside of Bellewood, I think."

"Road trip." Kevin smirked, pulling out his keys. They waited as Gwen went to tell her parents, who were hiding in their bedroom to give the trio some space, that they would be gone for a short while. She quickly returned and they left in Kevin's green and black striped car, the engine's rumble reverberating even when they were well out off the area due to Kevin's immediate thoughts to 'punch it'.

**Well, what do you think? Am I my own worst critic? Tell me! I'll update for reviews, so don't be shy! Oh and I forgot to mention it's rated T for language and violence later on. Chao!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm really encouraged by those reviews I got, and though I would prefer more, I'll settle for two. This is for 'xrxixsxexmxbxoxoxlxrxaxnxgxexr' for actually PMing me to update so your wish is granted. And thanks to 'UnderxGravity' for the fav! Now, onward to the story!**

**Disclaimer: **Must I really write this on every chapter? Le sigh… No own Ben 10!

**Chapter 2**

According to the clock on the car's stereo, they had been looking for about thirty-two minutes, give or take a few seconds, but nothing was presenting itself to them in the form of crater, or even smoke from the crash. After another minute of nothing but sand dunes and rocks, Kevin veered the car off the side of the road and stopped.

"Okay, driving is Bogus." Kevin stated with a look of boredom.

"He's right, are you sure it went out this far?" Gwen agreed, looking to Ben.

"Well, obviously it's nowhere near the road… You guys up for a walk?" He knew a night search was difficult basically because they couldn't see. Well, most of his aliens could see, but he wasn't sure about Gwen or Kevin. He was brought back to earth in a joking sense when he felt a punch on his shoulder.

"Hello? Wake up, Tennyson. I said get my flash light out of the glove box." Well, that solved that problem.

"You couldn't have just tapped my shoulder?" Ben muttered, rifling through a months worth of traffic tickets.

"It crossed my mind…" Kevin smirked until the flashlight was thrust into his chest. They all exited the car as a dull thump was heard. As Kevin sifted through the trunk for an object to signal with, Ben gathered his surroundings. Fifty miles up was the abandoned research lab that they had met Paradox at and after was a small mountain range, but he knew for a fact that it hadn't gone as far as the lab. The terrain was barely visible in the light provided by the crescent moon, but he thankful for at least that. He turned to look back at Kevin still head deep in the trunk.

"All that alien tech and you don't even have a simple flare gun?" Gwen scolded, leaning on the side of the car. A small muffled sound of triumph came from the trunk and Kevin pulled out the gun that he had stolen from the Forever Knights.

"Who needs flare guns?" He said, cocking it. Always the badass, Ben thought with a sigh.

"Everyone ready?" He asked, receiving nods from them both. They set off as Ben turned and activated the Omnitrix. He sifted through the aliens and, after finding one that he thought suited the situation, slammed the face down.

"Jetray!" He cried, his form taking the shape of a red, manta-like alien. He flew off at lightning speed and began his search.

Gwen held her pace at a brisk walk, staying a foot above the ground on energy platforms, lest she trip in on of the many holes created by whatever creatures lived in this desert. She had also concentrated a small amount of energy around her hand so a soft pink glow lit her way. She almost expected to find to random alien creature running around. It was part of their daily lives after all. She thought back to the movie and thought, jokingly of course, how ironic it would be if they came across that creature. Stranger things had happened, that was for sure.

Suddenly, a growl interrupted her thoughts. It came from behind a tumble weed on her left. She shone her energy light at the bush and was met with the twinkling of a pair of eyes. Startled by this, she shot the energy ball at it. She missed by three inches and sand exploded in all directions. This was followed by a yip, and a coyote sprinted off toward the mountains. She cursed herself for being so jumpy and continued to walk, hoping to find the meteor object soon.

Kevin's search wasn't going much better. Despite having a flashlight, he had managed to trip twice. Once on a rock and another in a hole. The inhabitant of said hole wasn't very happy about this and, with an angry hiss, attempted to take a bite out of his ankle. He was sure the poor snake had broken a fang on the rock layer he had absorbed halfway up his shins. Needless to say, the lengthy reptile retreated, and Kevin walked on, a smirk on his face.

He hadn't seen anything else besides the snake and a rather badly startled coyote. He thought he might've found something with the frightened animal but it was a no go as, usually, what the animals ran from came right after, which nothing did. So he sighed and continued walking. Searches were always the boring part, but he looked forward to finding the alien and beating the hell out of it. He was snapped back to reality by a shallow hole that seemed to randomly appear to make him fall flat on his face and, since one hand held a laser gun, the other a flashlight, he did. Just his luck.

Ben, personally, was enjoying the search. It was rare he ever got to use his aliens and not fight with them. Below him the ground was nothing but a bluish-grey blur as he sped by at eighty miles or so. Finally, a sight met his eyes. A giant crater stuck out on the horizon, dark and promising. He flew towards it and stopped at its lip, confirming it to be their target. He whipped around and fired two green beams from his eyes and tail. They collided high in the air creating a nice firework effect. He changed back and watched the green fade from the sky before turning back to them matters at hand.

He slid down the side and landed lightly on the bottom. He stood and looked at the anomaly before falling onto the side of the crater from shock.

"No way…" He murmured, frozen in place from the haunting familiarity of the space craft wreck before him. It couldn't be… These couldn't even be the remains of Ghostfreak's ship. But he knew it was the very same one that had been used to cover the earth in darkness for the evil ectonurite, despite its rundown look. He willed himself to move, convincing himself that he wasn't afraid. He still hesitated by the door. God forbid the horrid phantom pop out and attempt to possess him again. He took a breath and stepped inside, all thoughts of his friends forgotten as his mind focused on trying not to let the memories through.

The inside of the ship was a wreck of dangling wires and broken pieces of equipment spread out along the floor. His first step inside was met with an unexpected splashing sound. He looked down to find the floor covered in a clear liquid, most likely water. It must have been coated in ice that melted upon reentry or something to that effect. He continued on cautiously, the water rising to his ankles as he wandered deeper into the hulls depths until he realized he could no longer see. He felt along the wall until he found something that felt like a button. He pressed it, expecting nothing to happen when a panel slid open and bathed the open doorway with a gentle yellow glow.

He pressed himself against the wall and peered inside. No creatures, thankfully. His heart was pounding hard against his rib cage as he continued to use the adrenaline to his benefit. He entered, his eyes adjusting to the sudden dim light. The same story was told in this room of broken machinery and thick cables hanging off the ceiling. There was one different aspect in this room that hadn't been in the first one. There were two antennae, he assumed, one hanging down from the ceiling and one coming up from the floor. The way they were, they looked like a pair of metallic stalagmite-stalactite combo almost meeting in the center but cut off about a foot apart.

Ben had come up close to examine them, curiosity overriding his fear as the machine seemed familiar in a way, but he couldn't place it. A sudden shout startled him as thoughts of Ghostfreak came rushing back. He whipped around to face the doorway, but his elbow connected with antennae. A sudden shock coursed through his body, causing him to cry out in pain. He fell to his knees, dazed, separated from the source of pure energy that still somehow retained power. Darkness crept up from the corners of his eyes, threatening to overtake him. He didn't have the energy to fight, allowing himself to fall.

"Ben!" Was the last thing he heard when the darkness enveloped him, cutting his senses off from the world around him.

**Well, there was chapter two. I noticed I put a lot of spacing scenes, but hey, who doesn't like to space? Anywayz, R and R is all I can really tell you people. Please do so and you can have an Echo Echo too! Lots of luv!**


	3. Chapter 3

**lol Well, I didn't think to call it Ben!angst, but hey it just might be. I am going to explore the relationship between Ben and Kevin, but no Bevin of course. And, Kevin will be a little OOC but I think anyone would be if they were worried about their friend. Okay, I'm done talking so go ahead and read. You know you want to… **

**Disclaimer: **I wish I owned Ben 10, but what are you gonna do?

**Chapter 3**

As consciousness slowly returned to him, he felt like his head was filled with fog, giving him the headache of his lifetime and making it hard to open his eyes. He attempted to sit up only to have it feel like everything was spinning, forcing him back down with a groan. He peeked open an eye to gather his surroundings, and found himself in the backseat of the car. Well, he at least assumed it was the car due to his fuzzy vision. As he continued trying to get his bearings, a voice broke through the silence.

"Hey, Tennyson, you alive?" That was Kevin. He looked to the front of the car as best he could but didn't see anyone.

"Yeah… Where are you?" Ben answered, embarrassment obvious in his voice as he realized Kevin had been left to baby-sit him.

"Look in the mirror." Ben did so and realized the extent of his friend's laziness. Rather than turn in his seat to face Ben, Kevin had readjusted the rearview mirror to see him through it.

"Uh-huh… Your laziness knows no bounds." His comment received nothing but a shrug, visible only because the seat had shaken slightly. He decided to pursue a nagging thought at the back of his mind. "So, what happened anyway? I can't remember anything past… Ghostfreak's ship!"

"Easy." Kevin frowned. He had actually turned to Ben this time, but only to push him back into a laying position. Ben had complied but was still frantic.

"But, the ship! And Gwen, where is she?"

"Relax, she went to check it out herself, telling me to baby-sit you while she looked. Though, that wasn't exactly what she said… More along the lines of 'I know better not to touch anything'." He didn't sound particularly pleased about this fact, but there was something else in his tone that made Ben smile.

"You were worried."

"About Gwen? Not even. She has those freaky energy powers. I'd be more worried about whatever ran into her."

"Not Gwen." Kevin gave him a curious stare before grimacing as he realized what Ben meant. The rapid change of facial expression had told Ben he'd hit that nail on the head.

"No way, you're still out of it." Ben smirked at Kevin's weak defense when he realized something; the car was smoldering. The feeling asserted itself when a bead of sweat ran down his face without his knowing.

"Do you have the heat on or something?"

"No." Kevin replied, giving Ben a hard stare through the mirror. After a few seconds of this, Ben got a little irritated.

"What?"

"You're flushed."

"I'm what?" He watched confusedly as Kevin got out of the car and moved to open the back door. He did so and Ben tilted his head up to look at him upside-down when the cool desert air hit his face. It felt wonderful against his burning skin. He closed his eyes to enjoy the feeling when he felt two hands on his shoulders, forcing him to sit up. His stomach protested instantly.

"Don't." He gasped, his arms forcing themselves against his midsection. His shoulders shook in strain as he tried to force the bile down his throat.

"Sorry Ben, the jacket's gotta come off. Don't you dare hurl in my car." Kevin growled, pulling Ben's jacket off with little resistance. Kevin had had to deal with his share of illness too being as he had lived by himself for most of his life. He knew all the symptoms, but Ben's had popped up so suddenly, it was a little suspicious. What surprised him most was that Ben was allowing the help, but he probably figured it was better to accepted help than suffer for stupid reasons.

When Kevin had finished removing the jacket, Ben took it from him and dropped it to the floor, putting a shaky hand on his face. The queasiness had settled a little with the introduction of a little cold air, but the fact that it still threatened him was bad enough. He allowed himself to lean a shoulder on the back of the seat, resting his head which still refused to clear. Damn did he feel weak.

"So, what the hell happened in there? We found you collapsed in a puddle. Not one of your greatest looking moments." Ben would've laughed if he had the strength. Kevin was still nearby, so he assumed him to be leaning on the car next to him, but he wasn't sure with his back to him and all.

"I'm not entirely sure… I was kind of on autopilot the whole time. Touched something though and the next thing I know, I'm back in the car."

"Smooth. Real smooth."

"Well… brushed up against is a better word. You guys startled me." Kevin raised an eyebrow at this.

"We scared you? The great Ben Tennyson?"

"Great job, kicking someone while their down." He sounded truly irked by this, but Kevin chalked it up to the fever.

"You're obviously not down if you can fight back." Kevin received no answer so he continued. "So, what were you so freaked out about? This is our daily lives." He noticed Ben appeared to be relaxing but he couldn't let him fall asleep yet, he might not wake up. Best to keep him talking.

"Well, reliving some of your worst memories isn't as fun as it sounds…"

"You hate Ghostfreak that much?"

"Hate's not strong enough…" Kevin strained his ears to hear that as Ben had begun to mumble. Come on, Gwen…

"That's pretty hardcore. Never thought you were capable of it." Kevin had expected some kind of sarcastic reply, but nothing was said so he looked into the car to see if Ben had actually fainted. He saw Ben sitting upright, almost erect, his shoulders shaking ever-so-slightly.

"Dude, you with me?"

"Ghostfreak…" His voice threw Kevin off. He sounded utterly afraid. He moved so he could see Ben's face. It was contorted in fear, as if he actually saw the alien phantom. Suddenly, Ben moved to use the Omnitrix, pressing the button to power it up. Kevin quickly grabbed Ben's arms, forcing them apart before he got a chance to change.

"You're not going alien in my car, Tennyson!" Kevin shouted, trying to hold Ben's struggling form still.

"But Ghostfreak!"

"There's nothing there!"

"Kevin!" Finally, Gwen! She ran quickly to the other side of the car to see what was going on. She was shocked by what she saw; Ben shouting frantically about Ghostfreak while Kevin fought to keep him from using the watch.

"A little help, please?!" Gwen snapped out of her shock and sent a line of energy at Ben. It wrapped around his upper body, pinning his arms to his sides. He could still kick but it wasn't harming anything in his weakened state. She wasn't sure what to do next other than the obvious; knocking him out, but how to do it gently?

Kevin was on the same page as her and, though he later told Ben he had enjoyed doing this which, in all actuality he hadn't, socked him in the back if the skull. He immediately fell silent, his form falling limp within the pink energy shield. Gwen released him and they both layed him in the back seat. Gwen sat in the back too, her cousin's head in her lap as Kevin rocketed down the road at an illegal speed. He broke the silence first.

"Find anything?" Gwen took a full minute before answering, brushing a few stray strands of hair from Ben's face.

"The room we found him in was a sort of engine room. Energy used to course through those two poles."

"He was shocked?"

"I think so. Pretty badly too, what with all the water on the floor…" She sounded miserable and Kevin couldn't blame her. For all they knew, that zap could've just cost Ben his sanity.

"That doesn't explain why he's sick." Kevin said as he made a hard right, the tires screeching in protest.

"I don't know why. Your guess is as good as mine." Gwen finished in a low voice, bracing her cousin against the sharp movements. A sudden green light caught her eye and she looked at the Omnitrix that had somehow activated of its own accord. It looked somehow alive as it spoke two words neither of them expected to ever hear again.

"DNA anomaly." Crap.

**And that was chapter three. I'm happy with the amount of reviews I'm getting. Slow at first, but getting there. You guys all rock for the encouraging reviews! Thanks so much! Much, much love, Xangabell3**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm so sorry to all of you. I took down chapter 3 to fix some typos that were pointed out to me so when I reposted it, it must've alerted some of you. Also, I apologize for this chapter. I didn't like it when I wrote it, but there always needs to be a filler chapter somewhere before the action starts! So to those of you who were tricked, I'm very sorry so here's the next installment!**

**Disclaimer:** Done with this… You all know by now that I don't own Ben 10 AF so I'm going to stop putting a disclaimer.

**Chapter 4**

His first impression when he opened his eyes was that he had died. It was so bright that he had to squint. Heaven was bright and assumed white, but he knew he was alive when the scent of disinfectant and death hit his nostrils. He opened his eyes wider and realized he was in a hospital room with the stereotypical white walls and uncomfortable beds. He had just sat up when a door to his left opened and a doctor in a lab coat walked in.

"Hello there, son. Do you know where you are?" He asked kindly, pulling out an eye examining tool.

"Uh, a hospital." Ben replied, blinking back tears as the doctor shone the light in his eyes.

"Good, and what about your name?" The doctor held up a finger, indicating that Ben needed to follow it with his eyes. He did so while telling him his name.

"Alright, you have no memory loss, but you received a slight concussion, so your vision will be blurred or doubled for awhile." Ben nodded slightly when a question presented its self within his mind.

"Uh, was anyone else here?"

"Yes, they're waiting outside. I'll send them in." He gave Ben a smile that said 'feel better' and left. As soon as the doctor was gone an orange blur entered the room and practically tackled him onto the bed, pulling him into a hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay! How do you feel?" Gwen asked, stepping back to give Ben some air.

"I've been better." Ben smiled, looking at Kevin who walked in and leaned against the wall, attempting to maintain a level of cool despite the fact that he was in a hospital.

"I see your head's still intact." Kevin greeted with his usual cocky grin.

"Yeah, no thanks to you." Ben frowned, getting the implied message within the smile.

"I might've had something to do with it." Kevin looked to the ceiling feinting innocence which he just couldn't seem to pull off. Ben shook his head and looked back to Gwen to see her staring at the ground, obviously unhappy.

"Gwen? Something wrong?" Gwen looked up quickly, but did not smile.

"Well, I was worried. We both thought…"

"Thought what?" Ben asked, unable to pick up what the unfinished sentence held.

"Remember Ghostfreak? Yeah, he was never there." Kevin stated casually, yet the information still managed to devastate Ben.

"W-what? But, I saw…"

"The doc said it was your random fever."

"Were you sick before we went to explore the ship?" Gwen asked, hoping that this was one of the normal 'hide your illness' stunts he pulled.

"No and no. I know I saw him. Maybe he just made it so only I could see him." Ben said firmly, refusing to believe that what was being said was true.

"If that's so then why? I mean, he hates both of us." Gwen reasoned, sitting on the bed next to him. Ben scowled; she was treating him like he was unstable.

"Yeah, but he's never tried to possess…" He let the sentence trail off when he remembered Gwen had been possessed before. "Well, he wants the power of the Omnitrix, so why not?"

"Gwen told me your little ghoul friend got fried to a crisp." Kevin added.

"About three times. He's always managed to come back."

"Well, did he possess you?" Ben frowned.

"I don't know, I was knocked unconscious."

"Hey, if you had damaged my car, then you would've gotten more than a concussion."

"This is serious! If he is back, then we have to do something!"

"Ben, the doctor said it was when your temperature spiked. You were seeing things." Gwen spoke gently, trying to calm him, but he wouldn't have it.

"You think I imagined that… that…!" He could no longer form a full sentence, stuck to sputtering incoherent words.

"Cool it, Tennyson. If the doc sees you having a conniption, he'll force us to leave and you'll never get discharged." Kevin said, leaning off the wall to prove that he was serious. Ben stared at them for a full minute before taking a calming breath, and considered what they said. Why not a delusion? I mean he had suffered a pretty bad trauma awakening.

"Okay, so if I really was seeing things, then why do you still look like you think I'm crazy?" Ben saw Kevin exchange a grimace with Gwen.

"Well, what really got us was the watch. It spoke again." Ben looked at Gwen like she was the one who was crazy. The watch hadn't spoken again in months, ever since the DNAlien incident with Ken, Gwen's older brother. He had tried talking to it to garner some response, but the watch refused to speak unless it was some kind of alert.

"What did it say?" Gwen told him. Ben frowned. "Why would it say that? There was nothing around for it too…" The information sunk in like a poison, making him feel sick.

"No, no Ben! We think the watch had a short or something! That shock you got probably just messed up the watch for a second." Gwen soothed, putting an arm on his shoulder.

"When has the watch ever been wrong? What, I'm just asking." Kevin defended after the look Gwen threw at him. Ben breathed. Okay, maybe he had fallen into a coma and this was just a dream. No, he was too resilient for that. So this was happening. Well, all he had to do was get the watch to talk again and tell it to repair so maybe all is well. They could go back and destroy the ship, getting back to their lives afterward. He relayed this idea the Kevin and Gwen, who seemed delighted that he was thinking positively.

"That's a great idea! Are you feeling well enough to be discharged?" Ben's look told her and she walked out of the room. He stood up from the bed and stretched. His vision was still hazy, but not so bad that he couldn't see. As he made to follow Gwen, a cough came from behind him.

"I don't think you want to walk out looking like that." Kevin smirked, pointed to Ben's current choice of clothes. Ben looked down and made a frustrated sound.

"I can't believe they changed my clothes for just a couple hours stay." Ben muttered, looking for his clothes. Kevin pointed to the stand and watched Ben grab them before disappearing into the bathroom.

"Longer than that. You were under for a few days." Kevin enjoyed the startled noise that came from the bathroom, snorting into his hand so Ben couldn't hear him laugh.

"Kevin, don't mess with him! He was kidding Ben." Gwen sighed with a knock on the door.

"I knew that…"

Ten minutes later they were all in the car discussing how to attack the situation from there.

"What about the ship?" Kevin suggested, one arm controlling the steering wheel while the other rested on the open window.

"He's right. If we're going to start somewhere, it might as well be from where this all started." Ben agreed, but Gwen looked reluctant.

"What if something happens again? I think you should give yourself some more time to heal. Kevin and I could…" Oh, there was the face. It wasn't a pout but it looked defiant. Ben never enjoyed being left behind, even if it was for his own wellbeing.

"I agree, we don't need you freaking out on us again." Ben knew Kevin wasn't trying to be mean. They both cared and, he appreciated it. He should probably just stay home. He was outvoted anyway.

"Okay, fine. Drop me off at-Do my parents know about this?"

"Not really. You were there for only there for about eight hours." Gwen smiled, knowing his parents would just think he was back early from scary movie night. The ride to his house went much quicker than he cared for, but he got out anyway, pausing at Gwen's window.

"At least call to tell me what you find?"

"You'll be the first to know." Ben nodded, satisfied and set off toward the house, stumbling once before he reached the door. Kevin was gone before he looked back, and he turned back to the door silently, fumbling with his house keys. He managed to find the right key and put it all around the keyhole before getting it in, fuming about his poor coordination. He thrust the door open and closed it quietly.

His parents were talking amongst themselves in the kitchen. They paused to greet him and ask him about his night. Ben had to try hard not to laugh, imagining how the hypothetical conversation would go. 'Oh, yeah, it was great! First there was this meteor that turned out to be an enemy's space ship that crashed in the desert. But you know us reckless teenagers, we had to explore it and, guess what? I got electrocuted and a concussion! Oh and I went temporarily insane. That was the funnest part.' He settled for an "it was alright" and escaped to his bedroom under the pretense that he was tired, which he was, but he wasn't sure if he could actually sleep.

As soon as he reached his room, he threw off his jacket and fell face first onto the bed, his pillow softening the blow for his already tender skull. So he could be a tad crazy and had a DNA issue, that wasn't so bad. Okay, a huge lie, but he had to think a little positively or else he would freeze up with all the pressure. Somewhere in between thinking about Ghostfreak and wondering about Kevin and Gwen, he fell into a light slumber. His dream began in a dark place where, it seemed, nothing existed except himself. He floated in this place of nothingness until a chuckle reached his ears. He looked around the dark space but found nothing as the laughter increased to an unbearable volume.

"Who's there?!" He shouted into the dark expanse. His answer was the laugh subsiding. He knew that voice, it was so familiar it hurt.

"_Why, don't you remember me? I was the basis of you last little excursion."_ Ben shivered when he finally realized who he was speaking with.

"I know you're not real! This is all a dream from all my stress."

"_Oh, I'm very real Benjamin, and you know it. How else could we be having this little chat?"_Ghostfreak replied amusedly, his raspy voice sounding like he was so close yet was nowhere to be seen. Ben knew he was right; his subconscious had never been this elaborate with his nightmares, nor had he ever been so in control. But he didn't feel very in control at the moment.

"So what, now that you've successfully possessed me, are you going to continue with your cover the world in darkness schemes?" Ben spat at him, where ever he was.

"_No. I don't quite have control yet, but give it time. For now, all I live is to serve your desires."_ Ben knew what he was trying to do. Tempt him into darkness. He had just watched several scary movies hours ago, he knew the drill.

"Yeah, well, good luck with that. I don't have any."

"_Lies will get you nowhere, Ben. I see into your darkest thoughts and dreams. You have nowhere to run and I shall conquer." _The laugh resounded once more, battering his eardrums. He was close to shout when a noise outside his mind forced him awake. He shot up right with a gasp and quickly looked around for the source of the noise when he realized his cellphone was ringing.

**There it is. I apologize for this chapter being late too. My mother and I came to a disagreement that made me so mad I couldn't write for a couple of hours. I got it together though, so here it is, and I hope it didn't disappoint! Later! Xangabell3**


	5. Chapter 5

**Lo and behold, it is chapter 5! This is a kind of meanwhile chapter until near the end, just so you guys know. Okie dokie, not much to say so read on dear readers!**

**Chapter 5**

Gwen watched her cousin walk up to his house even as Kevin began to speed away. She worried about having him out of her sight at this point, but knew he could take care of himself for now. She tried to make sense of it all, the DNA anomaly and the return of Ghostfreak, but nothing connected. Her thoughts were interrupted by Kevin.

"So Gwen," He began, never able to sit in silence for very long. "It's just us today…"

"Don't even go there." Gwen snapped, emphasizing her point with a glare. Kevin continued to grin however, not at all put off by the denial. They continued in silence for a few more minutes, Kevin thinking of different ways to cheer Gwen up when she decided to speak up.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Kevin kept his eyes on there road as he considered the question. It was pretty open if you considered what you could add on the end, such as 'do you think he'll be okay by himself', or 'do you think he'll be okay if we find anything bad?' Kevin took it in the general way it was presented to him which would've answered all the other possibilities as well.

"Yeah, he'll be fine." Kevin answered simply, glancing at Gwen out of the corner of his eye. She didn't look reassured. Kevin didn't get that. Why do girls ask questions when they just doubt you anyway? He wisely decided not to say anything about it lest he get any energy powered slap. Those hurt no matter how shielded you were.

Thirty minutes later, fifteen of it spent walking, they arrived at the demolished ship. Kevin saw Gwen give an unwilling shiver of fear. He had no doubt that the ship had some negative effects on her psyche too. She had been a target for the demented ghost at one point as well.

The space craft itself looked rather innocent during the day. It was nothing more than a wreck, but at night, it seemed to hold a menacing quality that Gwen couldn't shake. Ghostfreak had really been one of their worst enemies.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up at Kevin. He wasn't quite looking at her, but it was an attempt at comfort and Gwen appreciated it immensely. She nodded at him and they went down inside the huge hole, Kevin sliding while Gwen walked down on energy platforms. It seemed no matter what time of day it was, the inside of the ship remained eerily dark, mocker her with its memory. Gwen had no problem understanding why her cousin had broken down.

Kevin stepped in first, his form disappearing as the shadows seemed to swallow him. Gwen surrounded her hand in glowing pink energy, took a breath and stepped in after him. She wasn't so frightened of the ship the first time simply because she had had no time to be. The first time she frightened for her cousin, just as she was the second time only that time she had quickly come into check to see what had happened before quickly rushing out. So, of course, now she had time, so now she was. She refused to let it stop her this time either, though, as her cousin's very life could hang on this information and she'd be damned before she let her fears hinder her chances to help him.

Kevin was waiting for her inside, watching as she seemed to fight some internal battle. He was about to go back out to help her when a certain form of resolve flashed in her eyes and he knew she'd be fine. He followed her after she stepped inside, being as she was the only one with a light source. That and she probably knew the layout of the ship better than him. He, of course, was not scared as he had never met the out of control version of Ghostfreak. He did worry somewhat for his two friends as he had gotten mixed into a forbidden part of their past.

They reached the room quickly, the door stuck open from the last time while dim yellow light poured out of the room. The room was exactly as they left it, half destroyed yet still intact enough to have power. You had to admit, alien technology was pretty amazing.

"So, obviously, somethin' more happened in here than we thought." Kevin pointed out, sifting through the broken tech scattered about the room.

"Well, he didn't just get electrocuted." Gwen replied, examining the two rods in the center of the room. They were obviously something more than she thought, but what? The familiarity was killing her. They couldn't just power the ship, not after the episode they had. Suddenly she realized exactly what they were. She gasped and took one step back too many as she tripped on the remnants of a control panel and fell. Kevin was by her side in a heartbeat.

"You okay? What happened?" Kevin asked, crouching by her side. He offered her a hand but she refused it, knowing that her legs would give as much support as Jell-O. She was staring intently at the machine as if willing some piece of information she had gathered to not be true. Gwen caught Kevin's eye, knowing she have to explain herself.

"I was wrong before about the machine. It did used to have energy coursing through it, but…"

"But…?" Kevin urged her to continue.

"Kevin, it's a DNA replicating device." Gwen looked extremely miserable as Kevin processed this piece of information.

"… So you're saying that this machine would've created another Ghostfreak?" Gwen nodded.

"It's how he returned last time. His lackeys used a machine like this to replicate Ghostfreak's DNA to bring him back to life. Ben told me about his encounter with another on like this…" Both of them were at a loss. How were they going to tell Ben that he had Ghostfreak DNA? Kevin already knew he was going to blow a gasket if he didn't completely loose his mind first.

"Is there any way to reverse it?" Gwen shook her head. Their last hope was the Omnitrix as the little device seemed to be good at it. Kevin helped her up and took her back outside for some fresh air. Kevin was glad it was late in the year or the air wouldn't be so much fresh as hot and dry. He gave her about ten minutes to regain her composure before confronting her.

"What do you want to do?" She took a breath, her answer already prepared.

"Call him." She pulled out her cell phone as they walked back to the car. It rang once, twice, three times before she heard a click and someone fumbling with the phone.

"_Hello?"_ She was not at all pleased that he sounded a little freaked out.

"Ben? Are you alright?" Kevin looked back at her, hoping that Ben hadn't managed to get into trouble while they were gone.

"_No, not really… All this stress must be going to my head."_

"Why? What's wrong?"

"_I'm dreaming of Ghostfreak."_ Gwen grimaced; that wasn't a good sign. _"You found something out, right?"_

"Oh, yeah… but you're not going to like it."

"_Well, I wasn't expecting anything good."_

"Ben," She began, afraid he may go into shock. "The DNA anomaly… When you were electrocuted, the energy transferred some of Ghostfreak's DNA to you." Silence fell on the other end. That was what worried her the most. No panicked breathing, no angered yelling, nothing.

"Ben?" She pulled the phone away from her ear and realized that he had hung up. That made her panic.

"He took that well, didn't he?" Kevin commented. He was lucky Gwen was too busy running frantically back to the car to give him one of her dreaded energy slaps. He sprinted after her, jumping into the car and not bothering with safety measures such as seat belts. Kevin floored it and they were within the city limits in five minutes. Another seven and they were screeching to a halt in front of Ben's house. Gwen could barely contain her anxiety as she knocked on the door. Ben's father answered and greeted them with a smile.

"Hello, you two," He said, inviting them in. "Ben's upstairs. He was sleeping for awhile but I'm pretty sure he's awake now. Made a bit of a ruckus, but he's been quiet ever since." It was a good thing that Mr. Tennyson had no idea how badly those words stung them. But Gwen mustered up a smile and a thanks before going up the stairs as calmly as she could, Kevin right behind her.

The quick walk slowly turned into an even paced one as they reached Ben's room. The door was slightly ajar, until Kevin pushed it the rest of the way. The room was a mess. A pillow and several books were throw half-hazardly about the floor while a lamp had been pushed off the night stand, shining a beam of light through the top of the shade against the opposite wall. The blinds had been shut a little lopsidedly so that the sun still poked through in thin streams. One wall had a shallow fist-sized hole in it, the paint gone so that the plasterboard underneath was visible.

Ben, however, was nowhere to be seen among this mess until Gwen rounded to the other side of the bed where he sat in the corner, curled into a ball. On his right hand, his knuckles were bleeding, indicating how the hole in the wall came to be. He seemed to be unaware of there presence. Gwen gently laid a hand on his shoulder when suddenly Ben freaked out. He inhaled sharply and made to press himself even further into the corner until he saw who crouched before him.

"You scared the hell out of me!" He shouted angrily, pulling his legs back up to his chest. Kevin wasn't put-off by his tone.

"You scared the hell out of us!" He retorted.

"Ben, what's going on?" Gwen asked gently. Ben gave her a slightly cynical look.

"What's going on? You can't possibly expect me not to be furious with myself after that!"

"You made a mistake! You're only human!"

"Not anymore!"

"Don't yell at her!" Kevin defended, picking Ben up by the front of the shirt. He didn't seem deterred by that as he made to yell back when a beep made them all freeze. That was the sound the Omnitrix made when it activated. Kevin put him down as Ben raised the watch to his face.

"DNA anomaly." It repeated. Ben felt an uplifting feeling when realized something that made his stomach sink. It had given him no course of action.

**Kind of left you with a Dun-dun-dun feeling huh? lol I already have everything planned out from beginning to end, but I would like to hear your guys interpritation on how it should end. Little bit of a challenge there, so tell me your opinion cause I am interested! (I don't care if it's a review or a PM by the by.) Xangebell3**


	6. Chapter 6

I know this is late, I apologize, but I leapt at the chance to be able to hang out with my friend again who, despite the fact

**I know this is late, I apologize, but I leapt at the chance to be able to hang out with my friend again that, despite the fact that it's summer, I couldn't see very often. Okay, this chapter… I like your idea 'UnderxGravity', it's one of my favorite things to read but don't think I'll be going with that angle though. But maybe I will! You never know until I get there. And with that, I end my A/N so you can read.**

**Chapter 6**

Ben's facial features couldn't seem to decide upon an emotion. At one point it looked like anger had dominated when a look of hopelessness replaced it followed by a quick change to guilty and so on. Gwen remained aware lest she see how his room had become as messy as it was. Besides a muscle tick in his eye his face had decided upon blank as its main feature, making them unsure as to how he really felt besides the assumed sense of feeling awful. Kevin opened his mouth to say something, probably inappropriate at that moment, to garner a reaction from him but Ben found his voice first.

"Are there any options?" He croaked, his voice cracking from the pressure.

"Analysis." The watch answered monotonously, unaware that it was causing its wearer a fair amount of distress. Ben seemed to lose his voice again until Gwen spoke.

"What can you tell us?" She asked it, hoping that some clue might present itself through the analysis option it gave them. The Omnitrix was silent for half a second before beginning to tell them what it knew about its owner.

"Foreign DNA has presented itself in the user's DNA."

"Can you repair?" Ben asked, a small amount of hope in his voice.

"Negative. Upon entry, it bonded with the user's DNA making separation impossible." It seemed to pause to let the information sink in before going into what the invasive DNA was. "DNA compound from the alien being Ectonurite. From the planet Anur Phaetos, a sentient being that lives in perpetual darkness. A main…" Ben pushed the miniscule button on the side of it, deactivating the watch to silence it. At this point, none of that information mattered except to irritate him further at how his DNA was now bonded with basically the darkest alien in the universe. He sighed and plopped down onto the bed, feeling weary with the overwhelming turn fate had decided to slap him with. He felt the spot next to him sink slightly as someone sat next to him.

"Ben…" It was more of a coo of comfort than anything as Gwen put an arm around her cousin's shoulders, understanding that this was a devastating blow to the usually optimistic side of him. Kevin moved and sat next to Gwen, staring at the wall opposite of them.

"You know, it could be worse…" He said without looking at them, finding the dent in the wall more interesting.

"Point?" Gwen said a little exasperatedly, unable to see how that would cheer Ben up.

"None really. I just thought the situation called for somethin' like that." Kevin shrugged, hoping the gain a smile from one of them. Gwen scowled at him for being so unsympathetic when a small choked laugh came from her right. Ben had his head up but had both his hands covering the lower half of his face while his eyes remained shut. The way he looked, it didn't seem like the laugh had come from him, but his shoulders still shook slightly in silent laughter. He looked to the left to see both of them staring at him.

"I wasn't laughing at you." Ben stated, a small smile lighting his lips in some dark humor he seemed to discover. "I was laughing at the irony of all this." Gwen opened her mouth to protest this unnecessary thought until Ben continued. "It's like in the movies, when the hero has to fight some dark monster and some how becomes the bastard he was fighting. It's all just so ironic…" The use of a swear word had thrown Gwen off as her cousin usually kept his language pretty clean, but she didn't focus on that so much as the point he had.

"Funny how that works, huh?" Kevin commented, a different kind of smirk on his face as he stared at the two people he sat next to. "I mean, I used to hate you. But you ended up turnin' me around, for the most part. You all sure we didn't fall into some alternate universe where movies are real?"

"That's no way to think about this. This isn't a movie so our ending isn't set. Let's take it a step at a time and I'm sure we'll find something to fix all of this." Gwen said confidently, looking for confirmation in the people around her. Ben looked like he knew the first step and he didn't look at all happy.

"…What am I going to tell my parents…?" Ben frowned, running a hand through his chocolate colored hair. His heart nearly stopped when a voice came from his doorway.

"You don't have to say anything." All three of them whipped around to see two adults standing in the doorway. Ben stood, his face and body rigid with shock at the fact that his parents had been eavesdropping on them.

"My poor baby…" Ben's mother, Sandra, cooed, walking around them to pull her son into a hug. Ben was glad to feel something other than regret or anger, but wasn't too thrilled when he realized that it was embarrassment by this sign of affection in front of his friend and cousin. None-the-less, the comfort felt good. He was also lucky he hadn't seen Kevin snickering slightly behind him.

"Well, at least we don't have to explain it now." Kevin said, standing and moving to a more open part of the room with Gwen.

"No, you owe us an explanation as to how it happened." Ben's father, Carl, said, stepping into the room. Neither of them knew how to start, but Gwen made an attempt.

"Well, we, um…"

"We saw a space ship crash in the desert and went to see if it was potentially dangerous." Ben had managed to pull away from his mother to recount what had happened but Sandra seemed to refuse to entirely release him and still held onto his shoulders. "I got there first and was stupid enough to go in without them. There was this room that had a DNA regenerating device and, well, I grazed it with my elbow and it sent a current of energy into me as well as a little bit of… alien DNA."

"And obviously, the Omnitrix is unable to fix it." Carl completed. Ben nodded while Kevin looked confusedly at his father.

"How do you know about the watch?" He asked a little suspiciously.

"Ben doesn't lie about what he does." Sandra announced proudly, causing Ben to give a sheepish smile at the threatening glare Kevin threw at him.

"Well, there really was no point trying to hide it after Galbatorix attacked." Ben shrugged.

"That's beside the point." Carl frowned. "You can't reverse the regenerator?"

"We figured if the Omnitrix couldn't fix it, nothing could. That and none of us are good alien mechanics." Gwen answered, a slightly guilty look on her face.

"We could probably find someone who could fix it. After Galbatorix, we delved a little into the Plumbers business." Sandra smiled as Ben's shoulders slumped.

"You heard it though. It's already bonded with my DNA."

"Only so that the Omnitrix can't fix it, sweetie. Something else could. Something built exactly for that job." The pet names served to embarrass Ben more, but what she said gave him more hope.

"I'll bet your grandfather would have something perfect for the job." Carl commented. The air in the room seemed to thicken as the trio remembered what had happened with there first Highbreed encounter.

"U-uh, yeah…" Ben stuttered, nodding at him. He didn't feel he was ready to tell him that Grandpa Max was gone. His parents didn't seem to notice as they kept smiles on their faces.

"We'll get to work on that, so why don't you go out and keep yourselves preoccupied until then." Kevin liked that idea; then again, he liked any idea that involved going somewhere in his car. Ben, however, looked a little reluctant to go back out yet. Gwen gave him a look and he sighed and agreed with the idea. There was a slight fuss between Ben and his mother over his injured hand, so he allowed her to bandage it before letting him go.

"Don't forget your cell phone." His father reminded him. Ben pointed to his pocket and waved goodbye as he was pulled out of the door by Gwen.

"What are we going to do?" Gwen asked as she got into the backseat after forcing Ben into shotgun. Kevin smiled as he started the car.

"I dunno about you guys, but I could go for a smoothie."

Ten minutes later and they had made it to their favorite smoothie place, Mr. Smoothie. They had found a table and Gwen went to get the smoothies. Kevin rested his arms on the table, looking at the other groups of teens around him until his eyes rested on the brown haired teen in front of him. Ben had his head down on his arms, looking a lot like he was sleeping. Of course, Kevin wasn't going to let him.

"How's your broken head?" Kevin asked casually, poking Ben playfully on the top of his head.

"Still looks like you're trapped in a fog. Are you bored?" Ben looked up at him curiously.

"Why?"

"You're basically asking me how I am. You don't ever do that." Kevin looked a little insulted.

"I'm not just black and white you know." He said turning his body and crossing his arms to emphasize his point. Ben couldn't help smiling at him as Gwen returned carrying three styrofoam cups.

"Alright, one chocolate," She handed on cup to Kevin. "One nectarine," She gave one to Ben. "And a strawberry for me." She smiled, sitting beside Kevin. Ben took one sip and began playing with the straw absently. Gwen made to say something when someone called out. They looked and saw J.T. running toward them. He stopped to catch his breath when he reached the table.

"What do you want?" Kevin scowled at him, rising from the table incase he had to beat some sense into him.

"Well, Cash is, uh… He's…" J.T. stuttered, trying to relay the message.

"Trying to call us out again?" Gwen finished for him, eyebrow raised. J.T. nodded, looking nervous.

"Ben beat the crap out of him last time and he still thinks he can challenge us?"

"Well, he's not exactly happy about last week… Especially with you Kevin." J.T. pointed out, recalling the near fist fight. Cash had been neutral toward them until Kevin decided to say something which brought back the anger in a rush. It was too bad that Ben had had to embarrass him verbally yet again to stop him. So, naturally, Cash was pissed.

"So, what? Are we meeting him somewhere? I hope he likes bruises." Kevin grinned, smacking a fist into his other hand. Gwen noticed the guilty look on J.T.'s face.

"J.T…. is there something you're not telling us?" J.T. flinched a little, rubbing a hand up and down his shoulder.

"Maybe… We, uh, found some other weird tech. It's not so much that it shoots lasers, but it increases the wearer's strength by about twenty percent." J.T. looked to Ben to see how he was reacting to this. He wasn't. It looked like he hadn't noticed him at all as he was still spacing. J.T. tried to get his attention by appealing to his better, people helping nature.

"Please? You guys know how bent he can get over things and I think he's really in trouble again." Ben looked at him thoughtfully, knowing what J.T. was doing and listening all the same.

"Yeah, we realize. That's why I'm going to give him the butt whooping of the century." Kevin commented. They looked to Ben as he sighed and rose from the table.

"Alright, we'll come, but you have to promise not to mess with anymore weird tech, got it?" J.T. nodded earnestly as they began to follow him back to the old mannequin factory. The building had not recovered from their last fight between robot enhanced Cash and Kevin, who still was ready to jump at the chance to beat Cash senseless from that.

As they neared the builidng, Ben felt an odd sensation welling up within him. He chalked it up to a strange surge of confidence, but he wasn't sure.

"Yo, Cash! We answered your little curtain call, so come out so I can wail on ya!" Kevin called cockily. He received no answer, so he ran ahead and entered the building.

"Kevin!" Gwen called exasperatedly before running in after him.

"It'd probably be best if you stayed here." Ben said to J.T. before running after the other two. He had to jump over bits of crumbled building before he caught up with them. He found Gwen chastising Kevin for being so reckless, before a voice made them all freeze.

"So, you actually came. I didn't think you'd be so stupid." Cash's voice had no pinpoint. It just reverberated around the room, serving it's pupose so they wouldn't know where he was.

"Why don't you come say that to my face?" Kevin challenged, stepping forward. Ben didn't like the feel of this situation. It was too familiar with the time he had been possessed by the robot glove. There was silence before Cash suddenly appeared through a hole in the ceiling, delivering a flying kick into Kevin's chest that sent him flying into the other wall. As he landed, Ben was able to see the mechanism. It was a small silver box that had latched onto his back, along his spine. It was going to be risky to remove without damaging him, but they had to do something.

Cash turned his attention on Gwen as she wrapped a trendril of energy around him. Appearantly, she had seen the device as well as she was using a smaller tendril of energy to try and remove it. She suddenly received a shock through the energy, knocking her out. The energy faded around Cash and he smirked in triumph until Kevin charged at him, shouting a battle cry as he shouldered him into the wall across from them.

Ben ran over to Gwen, examining her to make sure she was alright. As he lokked her over, he felt that strange feeling of confidence that didn't quite feel like confidence anymore. He stood and looked over at Kevin and Cash who appeared to be locked into a power struggle. Ben wasn't sure what came over him, but he felt calm.

"Kevin!" He shouted. Kevin picked Cash up and threw him before looking at Ben.

"You're not going to face him like that, are you?" Kevin looked at him proudly as Ben raised his fists. He was growing up so fast. Kevin ran over to Gwen as Ben entered the fight. Cash walked up to him cooly, an amused smile in his face.

"Tennyson, is it your turn? You're not going to turn into one of your freaks? Then I hope you like broken bones." Ben flashed him a smile that would've made a vampire quiver in fear.

"Likewise." Was all he said. His utter calmness infuriated Cash as he charged forward, a fist raised. Ben met him head on, easily dodging his fist and kicking him in the gut. Cash staggered as Ben continued with a barrage of punches, elbows and kicks, eventually backing Cash into a wall. Cash smiled, it was just the leverage he needed. He kicked off the wall and into the air, coming down with bone crushing force.

Ben's smiled widened as he caught Cash by the arm and flipped him onto the ground, still using the momentum Cash had obtained in the air. The ending force was great enough to crack the floor and leave Cash momentarily unable to move. Pieces of silver littered the floor, but Ben hardly saw them as he landed another punch to Cash's face. A sickening crack was heard, signalling the breaking of his nose. Blood spurted from it, but that served to only amuse Ben further. He wasn't sure where his power had come from, but he liked it.

He raised a fist to deliver the final blow when someone grabbed him from behind and lifted him into the air. He kicked and struggled but the grip was unrelenting. He saw he was being held up by the same pink energy that held Cash earlier. He finally heard the yells that had not been getting through to him moments ago.

"Ben, stop! It's broken!" Gwen? Ben shook the fog from his mind and looked around. What had just come over him?

"That's not the only thing that's broken." That was Kevin. He looked down and saw Kevin inspecting Ben's work on Cash's face. Ben saw what he had done to Cash and shivered, unsure where the surge of agressiveness had come from. He felt some thing wet and sticky on his face and knew immediately that it was not his blood.

"Ben, what's going on? Why did you go all out on Cash?" Gwen asked, pulling him down to her level. Ben looked a little shocked himself.

"I-I don't know. I lost it again and I don't know why!" Ben looked like he could go into hysterics. He wasn't like this. He was a fairly passive person who only got serious when the situation called for it. This was past serious. It was more like a version of revenge than anything. Gwen looked uneasy. Perhaps the fusion of DNA had more of an effect than they thought?

"That's one hell of a hit. Good job, Ben." Kevin complimented, standing with a smirk on his face.

"This isn't a joke Kevin! This is a serious problem and we…"

"Uh, guys?" Ben interrupted, blinking as he stared past them. "I can see."

"Of course you can see. You're not blind." Kevin said, a strange look on his face. Gwen understood what he meant.

"Your vision's clear? But it shouldn't be better for a few more weeks…" Gwen let him down carefully. As soon as he was free, a wiped his sleeve on his face to rid it of the crimson substance, but when he moved his bandaged hand, it felt weird. He began to unwrap it, the bandages covered in spots of Cash's life source. He examined his hand and found it perfectly healed, the skin smooth as of there had never been a cut there.

Gwen saw this and grimaced. Strange temporary lapses of mentality and quick healing? More and more strange things were popping up and still, none of it connected.

**There, extra long to make up for my lack of updating. Not much to say here except to please review and happy reading! -Xangabell **


	7. Chapter 7

Okay, I'll warn you all now

**Wow… Uh, the review quotient really sky rocketed. Uh, coughcough ****abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz**** coughcough lol Sorry about the update. I started school this last week so I really have been trying to find time (last Monday to be exact). You guys are my main priority! Not a day goes by that I don't think about getting this down for you, my loyal readers! That and those freakin' plot bunnie are killer. But I must warn you all now. Chapters are going to become a little scarce since I started school, but I promise an update by at least Saturday! So there's my explanation. -does dramatic sigh and signals to read on-**

**Chapter 7**

The car ride away from the mannequin factory was, needless to say, rather quiet. No one was angry, or depressed in Ben's case, it was that they couldn't really find anything to say. It was all fairly confusing to Gwen. She couldn't figure out what had happened, nor could her cousin in the backseat. He appeared to be brooding, probably kicking himself for going that far on Cash, but who wouldn't agree that he had deserved it? Cash, that is.

The last thirty minutes were hectic in ways as Kevin took Cash to the hospital, muttering about how he didn't need a hospital as well as another punch in a rather private region. J.T. of course had been way past surprised when they had pulled Cash's limp form out of the building. Gwen snapped him out of it by suggesting he go with them to the hospital. She had basically dumped J.T. on Kevin as well, but it would be better if he explain. Lying was one of the things he did best, after all.

So this left no room in the car, so Gwen and Ben were forced to wait outside for Kevin to return. Gwen spent those minutes asking her cousin a couple of questions while examining the remarkable healing of his head. He allowed her to inspect him, but seemed to refuse answering any of her questions.

So, now they were all back in the car with minimal conversation and little to no eye contact, thinking over the events that had taken place. Ben himself wasn't at all sure how to wrap his head around the random bout of extreme revenge, or so he considered it. It was all so strange, that he just couldn't justify, nor rationalize, how it came about. It sickened him in so many ways. He had loved beating the living hell out of Cash, was utterly thrilled when his features had taken on a more pleading side, and was enraptured by the way the blood had… Oh, the blood. He retched just thinking about all this sick and twisted things he had thought, earning him a concerned look from Gwen. He waved her off and tried thinking about other things, with little success of course.

He just couldn't get over how unfair it was. He helped people and this is what happens in return? No, it was more or less just his luck. It had always sucked, and look where it got him now? It infuriated and nauseated him simultaneously at how freakin' ironic it was. He clenched and unclenched a fist at his side as if there was an invisible stress ball there. A lighter side of his mind was happy there was no actual stress ball there as they usually caused more stress than they helped. A deep voice interrupted him, as it almost always did.

"So, what do we know about your weirdness?" Kevin grinned. He hadn't affected by the earlier situation at all. On the contrary, he was proud of Ben for doing what he did. Gwen, however, wasn't amused.

"Kevin, be nice." She scolded, her elbow slipping from the window slightly as he made a somewhat hard right. Ben was glad she was being nice, but he much preferred a joking tone than one full of sympathy.

"Well, let's see… Evil is embedded in my DNA, it happens to be from the alien I hate the most in the whole universe…"

"Don't sugar-coat it, Ben." Kevin snorted, smiling sarcastically in the rearview mirror. Ben rolled his eyes.

"And you kinda lose it when you get mad." Gwen completed. Ben gave her a questioning look, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. He gets bad news over the phone, he tore his room apart. Gwen was injured during a fight; he goes all out on the attacker. He was actually more protective of Gwen than he thought now that he considered it.

"That is true, huh…" Ben frowned. Anger had kind of been his preset reaction the past couple of hours. It was going to be hard not being able to use the emotion he seemed to use most.

"I don't think it's a bad thing. You probably made Cash look better." Ben wasn't looking at him but he heard and extremely loud smack followed by a couple of choice swear words. Energy powered slap. Not a good way to start your evening.

"How are you going to explain this to your parents?" Gwen asked, throwing a scowl at Kevin who was still trying to rub the stinging out of his cheek.

"Damn, you made it numb." He mumbled. Ben considered this with a frown on his face.

"I'll tell them at one point." He decided, leaving the answer open a little.

"So, you're going to lie?" Gwen looked at him a disapprovingly.

"Not lie, just not tell them the whole." Ben may tell his parents a lot about their lives, but there was also quite a bit he didn't say. Their grandpa's death was a good example. Anything to save them some stress. Gwen didn't pursue the subject, and neither did Kevin though he was still absorbed in trying to return the feeling to his cheek, so they fell into silence until they arrived once more at Ben's home.

"Did you have fun?" Was Sandra's greeting as soon as the trio walked in. Ben put on a smile, which wasn't very hard for him to do. It was almost laughable how that intense moment passed for him and nobody knew except Kevin and Gwen.

"Yeah, it was a good idea to go out." Sandra smiled at him as Ben mentally kicked himself. That was going to contradict later if they ever found out.

"Well, I'm sorry to say that we didn't find anything on our end." Sandra said regretfully, taking Ben's hand. He was embarrassed that she seemed so extremely regretful.

"Really, it's okay. I didn't expect anything to come up anytime soon. Don't worry okay?"

"So sweet, just like your father." Ben couldn't help the blush that lit his cheeks. He looked at the floor to avoid Kevin's eyes, knowing how that would go as Kevin's favorite age seemed to be five.

"Oh, but I'm cutting into your social life, aren't I?" Sandra realized, backing off so her son could escape if he so wished.

"Where's dad?"

"He's in the kitchen, talking to people who might know something over the phone." Ben nodded and took his leave, straining himself to walk calmly up the stairs rather than dash up them. As soon as they entered, Kevin couldn't help himself.

"'Just like your father'? Wow, Ben, you must really be shweet." Kevin cooed in a gushy voice. Ben frowned angrily and shoved him before settling himself on his bed, looking in the opposite direction of him in the childish side he rarely showed anymore. Kevin chuckled. He enjoyed the spats they had, it proved how close they actually were, but he would never admit that of course.

"Maturity must be the most difficult struggle in your life." Gwen threw at Kevin not unkindly. She walked to the bed and sat down next to Ben who had relaxed and looked like he was spacing as he stared at the books on his floor without seeing them. Kevin snorted at the jab and fell flat onto the bed behind them, bouncing them both with his heavy impact.

"What are you guys going to do?" Ben asked, life returning to his eyes, but still not looking away from the book on the floor.

"Baby-sit you." Ben whipped around and glared at Kevin, looking to see the joke. Kevin stared evenly back, showing he wasn't kidding.

"Not even. Go home and we can regroup later, preferably in the morning." Ben stated, letting his irritated gaze fall back onto the small book pile.

"But Ben, what if you…?" Gwen let the question trail off as they all knew how to complete it. Ben grimaced, unnerved by his lack of self-control.

"I know. Maybe if I just keep it cool, it'll be alright." That was more or less wishful thinking on his part. What if it wasn't just anger that set him off? His first time was basically shock, so almost anything is possible.

"Are you sure you don't want us around?" Gwen asked gently, noticing the indecision on his face.

"Not really." The thought of accidentally attacking his parents made him paranoid and slightly sick.

"Don't worry. We got your back if you freak out again." Kevin assured, a hint of a smile of his lips, but his urge to retain a tough image getting in the way. Ben did smile at him, a small one, but a true one. He was seriously a good friend when you got around the whole jackass personality. They agreed upon staying together, but, to give Ben some alone time, they decided to sit on the roof and check on him through the window every so often.

"Your cousin is seriously too good. He could be playing a video game or sleeping or something, but no, he goes and reads a book. And not just any old book, a Biology text book." Kevin shook his head after checking on him nearly a half an hour later. Gwen shook her head. Normal for them was obviously not normal for Kevin. But, then again, when was Kevin ever actually normal? She wasn't surprised he was reading a biology book either. It contained a few chapters on DNA that could possibly give them more information.

"He's just doing a little research." Gwen defended lightly. Kevin just snorted.

"A lot of good that will do against alien DNA."

"It always feels better to be doing something rather than nothing." Kevin understood that feeling. That was basically why he always leapt before he looked. There were a few more moments of silence as a different thought circled Kevin's head until he felt it had to be said.

"… You know, how come you've never let me take you out?" Gwen jumped at the question in shock.

"This is hardly the appropriate time for that Kevin!" She sputtered, blushing a deep crimson. Energy surged and molded around her hand in warning. Kevin looked down at the roof tiles, completely unintimidated, another thought showing in his eyes. Gwen caught these and her features took on softer tones while the energy faded from her hand.

"You're still dwelling on what I said with Mike, aren't you? Look, I said I didn't mean that, I really didn't." Gwen's reference to Mike Morningstar made Kevin clench a fist at the very thought of the life sucking bastard.

"But it was true. I waited to long, didn't I?" Kevin looked at his shoes, finding them much more interesting then Gwen's reaction. She didn't know how to respond.

"Perhaps, if you asked at better time…" Gwen could only give him hope for now, unsure whether or not she could go through with it. Kevin looked neutral to this, neither upset nor happy. More time passed and Gwen stood to go check on her cousin. The silence had grown rather uncomfortable anyway.

She stumbled, slipping a little as she stepped down to the sill. The scene was fairly peaceful and she smiled at the position her cousin layed in. He had fallen asleep with the book covering his face. She landed lightly into the room and crossed over to his bed. Gently, as not to disturb him, she lifted the book from his face and dog-eared the page before setting it on his dresser. His face wasn't as peaceful as a sleeping person's should be unless they were having a nightmare.

She shook his shoulder slightly and he relaxed. She remained wary, but it seemed he was fine now. A small amount of drool sliding down his cheek told her he was heavily asleep and probably fine now, but could she risk leaving after that? Perhaps the shake had landed him in a different dream so he would be fine. It was a nicer way to think about it.

She left him after a moment's hesitation, knowing Kevin would be pleased to know he was now doing something 'normal'. Unfortunately, Gwen was blissfully unaware of the danger lurking in the back of his mind.

* * *

Darkness was everywhere, blinding, suffocating. Not a speck of white anywhere and he felt he may have gone deaf as well as there was not a sound to be heard. He must be dead, there was no other explanation. He had gone insane again and his friends were forced to kill him. It had to explain this hell that he had gone to.

"_No, Tennyson, I wouldn't call it hell."_ A voice broke through the darkness and suddenly, he could breathe and hear, but his sight had still not returned to him. However, the voice that had talked to him -or had it been someone else? - might as well have been a devil.

"_You humans and your crude conceptions of the after-life." _

"What do you want?" Ben snarled, not at all pleased at the one who disturbed him.

"_I've already told you, what ever you want."_

"And I've already told you to fuck off."

"_Now, now, Ben, must we resort to vulgar insults? Perhaps if you had another chance to know where I was coming from…"_ That hit Ben in what he assumed to be his heart, but he couldn't be sure of anything anymore in this thick darkness.

"You… You're the one… You made me…" Ben couldn't form the sentence, but the sentient being understood anyway.

"_Didn't you like getting revenge on your neighborhood bully? I'm sure he'll never even come near you again."_

"I managed to resolve it with words last time! I don't need your help, or your influence so just back the hell off!" Ben looked wildly around for the ghost, hoping to find something he could optically focus his hate on. The phantom just laughed at him, incensing him more.

"_But where did that get you? If memory serves it came down to a fight anyway."_

"How do you know that? You weren't there."

"_I have my sources." _Ben didn't like that. The ghost could access his memories.

"Just leave me alone! I don't need your influence shadowing me, I don't need your power, and I don't need you! So get the hell out of my head!" An applause of one was heard, but unable to be pinpointed.

"_Such bravery in the face of the most feared race in the galaxy, I applaud you. But separation proves impossible now. My being is fused to yours, so you are doomed to an eternity with me." _The phantom began to laugh again, a raspy choking sound and Ben tried to drown it out, clasping his hands over his ears. Nothing could stop the sound that brought him so much anger, so much sorrow and so much pain. He was drowning in the darkness again, the very feelings choking off his entire being until he felt these would be what he would become. A hollow shell of pain and hatred. When a suddenly sensation hit him, everything seemed to tune out. Actually, it was less of a sensation and more of a bump. A shaking to be precise. It shook him from his place in the dark and he began to fall.

Free. He was finally free of the phantom. For now. He slowly drifted into a dreamless and uneasy sleep, unable to shake the fear, even in an unconscious state.

**I hope you all aren't offended by swear words. And I hope I didn't go to far with Ben. Here is the nest installment and be prepared for more. I refuse to start something and then not finish it! Oh, and by the way abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz, you didn't annoy me at all. I just checked my email today and found it very funny to discover all the reviews I got. lol Thanks to all of you for getting my butt in gear and I hope you still look forward to what happens next! Chao, Xangabell**


	8. Chapter 8

**Well, um… while typing I only wear pants on days that end in a "y", so I hope that answers your question. Lol Have any of you other peoples started school yet? I'm utterly jealous of people who still have a vacation. Anyways, here is the next installment, and I promised on a Saturday, so here it is! **

**Chapter 8**

"Well, I don't blame him. If I had a freaky alien inside me, I'd be having some pretty messed up dreams too."

"Are you even listening to all that I'm saying? Because-"

"I know, I heard you. Like you said, maybe you rattled him out of it." Gwen didn't look so sure of this even though that described it almost perfectly.

"Do you really think so?" Kevin sighed. This was maybe the third time she had asked, and, as much as he enjoyed comforting her, covering the same question over and over wasn't exactly appealing.

"Yeah, I do, but if you wanna be sure, let's go inside and make sure."

"But, he'll want…"

"He doesn't care, Gwen, and I'm sure as hell not going to sleep outside." Kevin made his way down to the window sill, despite a protest from Gwen and made his way inside. He turned back to the window to help Gwen down. After all, chivalry wasn't dead if you wanted to go out with a girl. The both turned in time to encounter Sandra at the door.

"Dinner's ready." She said quietly, looking sympathetically at her sleeping son. Kevin wasn't aware that that was aimed at them until Sandra looked up and spoke directly to them. "Is he hungry?"

"Thanks Aunt Sandra. We'll find out and be right down." Sandra smiled kindly at them before turning to leave, closing the door gently behind her.

"Yo, Ben, time to wake up!" Gwen jumped, suddenly realizing that Kevin was no longer beside her. Instead, he crouched right next to Ben's face, attempting to startle him awake by shouting in his ear. "Get your ass up if you're hungry!"

"Kevin, I don't think he'll want to be deaf when he wakes up."

"He's not waking up. Look," Kevin grabbed the front of Ben's shirt and lifted him off the bed a few inches before dropping him, proving his point. Ben was completely undisturbed. "I told you your cousin wasn't normal."

Gwen, however, looked concerned. Ben had never been that heavy of a sleeper, his awareness increased by many months of saving the town at a moments notice. He appeared to be sleeping, what with the gentle rise and fall of his chest as well as the small amount of saliva running down the side of his face. She gently patted his cheek.

"Come on, wake up." She urged. She placed both her hands on his chest and attempted to run a little of her power through him, getting his systems more active so he would be forced awake, but to no avail. Kevin tapped her shoulder and she looked to him, noticing that he looked like he wanted to try again. Gwen hesitated, knowing Kevin wasn't going to be nice about this, but stepped aside anyway.

Kevin pulled him into an upright position, holding him up by his shoulders before giving him a shake that would make a seven-point earthquake seem like a gentle rocking. Ben's head lolled on his shoulders before he groaned.

"Mm awake…" He mumbled, eyes still shut. Gwen breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hungry?" Gwen asked softly. Ben didn't reply so Kevin gave him another quick shake, roughly about a five on the Richter scale.

"Wha…?" Kevin pushed him back hard enough that his body bounced as he hit the bed.

"She asked if you want dinner." Kevin reiterated, not as kindly as Gwen.

"Nuh hungry."

"Do you feel alright?"

"Tired." He yawned. He was becoming less and less coherent as unconsciousness swept him away once more.

"Ben?" Gwen made to wake him again when Kevin grabbed her outstretched hand.

"Forget it, he's down for the count."

"But, I'm-"

"What, worried? Yeah, I know, you and two other people. Well, I'm starving, so I'm going downstairs. He probably needs the sleep anyway." Kevin added, mostly as an after thought, before heading out of the bedroom, not giving Gwen the chance to protest.

Sandra and Carl asked no questions when they hit the bottom step without their son, probably assuming what they already knew. Kevin was glad they were having pizza, finger food being one of his favorite types of food.

"Did you find anything?" Gwen asked politely.

"One possible one, but neither of you would like it. Even I'm pretty sketchy about this one." Carl replied with a frown.

"Why?"

"Well, we asked other plumbers first, connections to your grandfather. They themselves knew very little about genetics, but they all directed me to the same person." Carl hesitated, knowing he was about to devastate at least his niece. "Doctor Animo." Gwen squeaked while Kevin choked, grabbing a napkin so he wouldn't have a spit take to talk about later. Even he knew of Doctor Animo. He was the top in criminal genetics and gene splicing. Everyone under ground, and even a little above, knew him.

"What?!" Gwen shouted, shock widening her eyes.

"I know, I know, I didn't like the idea either. Especially with the under breath comments the others threw about him. But if all else fails…"

"Good luck trying to even see him. He's locked up tight in a maximum security, government controlled prison. No one can even get in." Kevin remarked, shooting down the idea he thought rather disgusting himself.

"Isn't there anyone else?" Doctor Animo would rather splice them both with frogs than help Ben with a predicament that he would probably find suiting for the hero. Gwen knew that Ben himself would reject it anyway just as the evil doctor's name was mentioned. Gwen shifted uncomfortably in her seat as Carl thought.

"Well, I came into contact with a man named Seven…"

"He's named after a number?" Carl ignored him.

"He knows alien mechanics like the back of his hand, even genetic engineering ones. I arranged a meeting with him." Gwen looked ecstatic.

"That's so great! When?"

"Tomorrow at noon, behind the Nordon apartment buildings."

"Alright, but let us go instead." They all looked to Kevin. "Dealing with Plumbers can be as dangerous as dealing with criminals, something could happen. And if anything does happen, Ben will probably go alien on my ass for not saying anything." Gwen smiled, know Kevin wasn't so fond of Echo Echo, or Humongasuar for that matter.

Carl looked thoughtful while Sandra looked a little worried. She knew they had ways of defending themselves, as she had seen first hand on one occasion, but she couldn't kill the instinct to worry for her niece, or the fact that they could be endangering her friend either.

"Obviously you know how this works better than we do, but can I trust you'll be able to defend yourselves when push comes to shove?"

"No worries pops. We've handled things like this before." Kevin grinned cockily, careful not to add the words "on a daily basis" in there lest he ruin the reputation he'd earned. Carl nodded, confident that this boy would keep Gwen safe. He had only seen some of her powers, but he knew her fighting spirit. She shared it with her cousin.

Dishes were removed quickly as Kevin and Gwen made to sneak back upstairs when Carl stopped them.

"The extra bedroom's open for use. I'm a little busy to worry about co-ed sleeping arrangements, so do what you like."

"Thanks, Mr. Tennyson." Kevin using manners was new to Gwen, but when she turned around she realized other things were on his mind. Things that would deserve an energy slap if ever uttered.

"Couch." Gwen said forcefully, eyes narrowed.

"Aw, come on, you know I was kidding." Kevin consoled, backing up a few steps. Gwen made it final as she walked away, shutting the door behind her. Kevin frowned and sighed. Sometimes she just couldn't take a joke. He looked a little ruefully at the couch before deciding that at least someone should watch Ben. He snuck upstairs, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Ben, of course, was in the exact same position they had left him. No tossing of repositioning at least. Nope, he was just not normal in Kevin's book. He sat on the floor and watched Ben for maybe a minute before his eyes wandered to the open window. Darkness took him once but he shook the fog from his head. He only lasted so long, however, and unconsciousness welcomed him, greeting him with his preusual dreams.

* * *

The darkness lifted ever-so-slowly that eventually he was forced to open his eyes in wonder to where all that light came from. He squinted and found the window still open. The light was unbearable. He had to shut the window. He rose from the bed and stumbled a little, feeling like he had gotten no sleep while the clock had told him that he had maybe gotten at least a full twelve hours, possibly more.

Something caught the corner of his eye, and he turned to find Kevin asleep against the opposite wall. He was going to be so sore when he woke up. He reached for the opposite side of the window, being as that was where the strings that controlled the blinds were, before pulling back, hissing at a sudden intense burning in his hand. As that happened, the blinds suddenly slammed down.

He blinked, unsure of what was going on. Maybe he had knocked the blinds as he pulled back? Why did he pull back in the first place? He inspected his hand and found to marks on it. Perhaps it had been his imagination. But then, how had the blinds fallen on their own? They had a pull string, so knocking them out of place was out of the question. All he knew was that during that time, he had wanted the sun blocked to end the intense burning.

He looked to Kevin and saw that he had slept through all of this. He shook his head. Why did most weird stuff happen when they had their backs turned? He supposed he would never know so he settled for waking Kevin. Everything was just getting stranger and stranger.

**Damn! I missed the deadline by 46 minutes! So close. Oh well, at least it's out there. What do you think of Doctor Animo's return? Lol He just popped into my head through a random plot bunny. Anyway, it's midnight so I'm going to sleep. Good night to some and good morning to others!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Alien X! Alien X! Alien X!! I am so psyched to finally know what's going on with that alien! I'm probably one of the few people who know it's powers already, but that still doesn't make me any less excited! I know some of you are looking forward to it too. Anyways, I wanted to share one more discovery with you Ben 10 fans. Go to YouTube and type in Ben 10 Caramelldansen. It's so cute! And the song is pretty addictive so prepare to have it stuck in your head. Okay, I'll stop rambling and give you the chapter. Happy reading!**

**Chapter 9**

Five minutes. It took five whole minutes to budge Kevin into awareness. He had tried speaking, that escalating to yelling after the first minute, then nudged him before irritatedly giving up and giving him a nice hard kick.

Kevin, startled, quickly raised his head, effectively whacking it on the wall he was leaned against. He looked up at his attacker and scowled as Ben smirked. Ben cocked his head as Kevin's scowl faded to be replaced by a look of confusion.

"Dude, what time did you wake up?"

"Uh, only five minutes ago. Why?"

"You look like hell."

"You're no prize either." Ben retaliated, frowning. He watched as Kevin began to stand up, groaning as the process moved muscles that had stiffened in his unorthodox sleeping position.

"Pale."

"Sore muscles."

"I'm not joking. Do you sleep walk or something?" Ben realized he was being serious and walked quickly to the upstairs bathroom. He centered himself in front of the mirror and, leaning on the sink for a closer look, examined his face. It was immediately noticeable what Kevin was talking about. He was ghostly pale with small dark circles around his eyes.

It didn't make sense! He slept for freaking twelve hours! He was, or should've been, more rested than half the people in Bellewood. He gripped the sink tightly with one hand while the other poked his face, willing it to be a trick of the light.

A sudden moaning made him whip around to witness Kevin walking slowly toward him, arms out in front of him, wrists slack, while his tongue lolled out of his mouth in obvious imitation of a zombie.

"It's not funny." Ben growled as Kevin chuckled.

"Just humor me and make a zombie noise."

"How about I just skip straight to biting you?"

"I can't leave you two alone for a minute." Gwen sighed, appearing in the doorway, arms crossed. Her expression immediately changed when she saw Ben. "Ben, are you okay?"

"Fine. I just seem to look… unrested." He threw a glare at Kevin, daring him to say zombie again. Kevin looked at the opposite wall, acting as though the thought had never crossed his mind.

"You seemed to sleep fine. An explosion wouldn't've woken you up." Ben rolled his eyes. So he'd been extraordinarily tired. "What did you dream about?" His gaze suddenly found the floor. For some reason it was extremely interesting.

Should he tell them about Ghostfreak? He had mentioned it briefly once, passing it off as stress. It definitely wouldn't help anyhting except give Gwen gray hair. She seemed worried enough as it was.

"I didn't. Just black until I woke up." Ben lied. Gwen didn't seem satisfied with this answer, but took it just the same. Kevin gave him a sideways glance, but had no comment until a thought crossed his mind.

"What time is it?"

"One hour to twelve. Don't worry, I've been keeping an eye on the clock."

"For what?" Ben asked curiously. The subject obviously excited Gwen as she gave him a huge smile before going on.

"Your parents found an expert in genetics! We're going to meet him in a few hours." Ben wasn't quite sure how to react. He hadn't even been aware his jaw had dropped until Kevin mention something similar to 'flies'.

"A-awesome…" He couldn't find a word to describe how he felt so he settled for the first one that came to mind. It didn't hinder Gwen's smile at all.

"Isn't it? We can finally end all this Ghostfreak business." That was the kind way to put it, but basically what it was.

"We gotta leave now if we want to make it." Kevin commented.

"Oh, are we obeying traffic laws now?" Gwen teased, moving so they could step out of the bathroom.

"Tell me how it goes then." Ben dismissed, turning to go back to his room.

"You're coming too, silly." Silly? Gwen must be extremely happy about this to add that to her vocabulary. But that was the least of his worries. He was a little afraid to go outside. Even if that whole ordeal with the sun was a fluke, the thought made him wince.

"Sure you need me for this?"

"I doubt he's going to just give it to us and be on his merry way. That's expensive tech." Kevin answered. "Problem?"

"Uh, no."

"Then come on." Ben followed unwillingly, making a face behind Kevin's back. They had all fallen asleep in street clothes, so there was no need to bother with changing except for a little hair combing. He didn't even bother with that as he was a little distracted. He stared at the door a little ruefully. What if it hadn't been a concidence? The thought of burning wasn't very appealing. Was he going to turn into the creature he hated the most in the universe? If he did, he decided he was going to take a dive of the highest building he could find.

"Hey, earth to Tennyson? Do you read? Get in the car." Kevin commanded, shoving him out the now open door onto the porch. He froze before hitting the sunlight, maintaining his balance so that his face was inches from the intense light. He stepped back a few feet before running into Kevin.

"What's the matter? You're not gonna melt." Kevin joked pushing him lightly away from him.

"Melting isn't the right word…" Ben muttered.

"Is something wrong?" Gwen asked, noticing his attitude toward the sun. Ben sighed, knowing this would've come up at one time anyway.

"Well… It would be easier to show you." Ben took a wary step forward and looked at his hand. He held it out, centimeters from the sunlight.

"Show us what?" Kevin asked impatiently. He didn't have to wait long for the reason why as Ben suddenly gasped and took a step back, clutching his hand. He turned to them and, with a grimace, showed them. It was burned badly like hot oil had been poured on it, where it was raw in some places. He shivered as the pain began to subside, making him a little nauseous.

"Whoa… I guess vampire would've been better than zombie." Gwen was beyond trying to control Kevin's mouth, rather absorbed in her cousin's latest symptom.

"How am I supposed to go anywhere?" Ben wondered out loud, lowering his hand. He knew it was going to heal like his concussion did. He couldn't help being a little sickened with himself utilizing the power the freakish alien had given him. Gwen looked sympathetic, thinking of a solution. He owned no hoodies, there was never a need as rain in Bellewood was already pretty rare, and umbrellas were out of the question for the same reason.

"Sunblock?" Kevin suggested, remembering a vampire movie he saw where the vampire had been able to hide among humans because of this. Ben recalled that one as it had been the first one they watched on scary movie night.

"Think it would've protected It?" He enounciated It like it was poison, obviously in substitution for Ghostfreak.

"Don't compare yourself to that monster." Gwen scolded harshly. It was bad enough he was plagued by it's DNA but to think he was like him on some level was just degrading and a bad state of mind to get into.

"Then what?" He already knew that would be dead end idea as sunblock couldn't prevent death. Gwen looked like she had an idea. She sent a wave of pinkish energy over his head, covering him like an umbrella, but it still remained attatched to Gwen's hand. Unlike the energy she used mostly, this was more on the opaque side so sun wouldn't be able to get through.

Ben looked unsure about this. He wasn't worried so much about the sun anymore so much as his pride. A pink energy wave over your head didn't exactly scream guy. But, he couldn't complain. He made it to the car without another singe, thankfully 'cause the last one had hurt like hell. He told Gwen to stop and just threw his jacket over his head.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure to hit every bump in attempts to ruin your little shield there." Ben knew Kevin didn't mean it. They had little spats everyday. He couldn't help gripping the jacket a little tighter though as, every so often, Kevin would actually implement some of his threats. He wasn't sure what happened after, due to the solid cloth in front of his eyes, but he was sure he heard a small 'ow', most likely from some form of pain from Gwen to get him to lay off.

Despite the delay, they arrived ten minutes early, but that was also helped by the method of ignorance to traffic laws. Ben was happy to find that it was shady. They were meeting this person behind the building, so there were no worries there.

They all kept watch for twenty minutes, silence surrounding them except for the occasional car. Finally, a shadow moved to their left and they knew he had arrived.

"You are Carl Tennyson?" A thick accent accompanied the words that were aimed at Kevin.

"No, we're here for him. You got the device?" Kevin, having more trade experience as he so loving called it, stepped forward to do the talking.

"Yes. My employer has it now." Another silhouette appeared beside the first. The other was considerably taller than the first and spoke in a language that none of them could understand. Four glowing red eyes were visible however.

"He asks what you need it for." The smaller accented silhouette translated. Ben got a bad taste in his mouth as he felt his brain frantically trying to process why the second shadow was so familiar in such a bad way. Gwen step aside, realizing that she had unconsciously stepped protectively in front of him.

"My cousin had a bad experience with some en… et…"

"Ectonurite DNA." Ben said for her, still unable to explain why he knew this man. The man seemed to know him, or something about them had angered him as he began chittering in that unknown language. It was then he remembered who he was.

"My employer has changed his mind." Kevin didn't like this.

"Why? We can pay for the use."

"He doesn't wish to help this human." He replied simply, as if he agreed.

"Because I almost destroyed him once. Hello SixSix." Ben greeted darkly, an angered frown on his face. The silhouetted figure stepped into a lighter shadow, still chittering in that irritated manner. Gwen looked at the figure in horror as Kevin remained indifferent having never met this creature before.

"He says he is no longer SixSix. He is SevenSeven and that he will kill you for mentioning that." No sooner than that was said, a gun of sorts became obvious in SevenSeven's hand. Gwen put up an energy field just in time to block the sudden red pulse that was aimed at them. It was strong enough to shatter the field, but did not make it through.

"How do we keep meeting up with people you know?" Kevin exclaimed angrily, obviously in displeasure about Ben's past.

"It's been five years! How the hell am I supposed to know what happened to them?" Ben retorted, both of them ducking from another three pulses.

"A little help!" Gwen shouted as Seven made another shot at her. Ben pushed the side button on the omnitrix and began trying to quickly pick one that fit the situation. He heard Kevin give a kind of battle cry, probably running up to him after absorbing some kind of substance.. There, Big Chill would be perfect. Freeze the bastard and be done with it. He made to slap the face down when he felt something thick and painful hit his chest. It knocked him off his feet and into a wall behind him.

Stars exploded in his vision as he tried to regain his senses. He heard another sound, a blow of some kind had been landed and he had heard a body fall. He felt the familiar tendrils of the evil power and tried to ward it off. He could do thid himself without a body count. He looked at the Omnitrix to see if his selected alien was still there but the watch had reset itself during his moment of unconcentration. He tried to quickly find it again but SevenSeven seemed hell bent on not letting him use the watch.

Another beam found his chest with marksman accuracy and consciousness was becoming fleeting. And suddenly, he felt fine. More than fine, he felt… powerful. A smile that was not his own spread across his face as he stood, ready to end the one who was trying to kill him. Two guns were pointed at him, ready to shoot him to death. His smile was not hindered by the threat of death.

SevenSeven fired six shots, enough to kill about two humans of Ben's stature. He calmly raised a hand and the pulses stopped before they reached him, stuck in the air before him. Another wave sent them back where they came from. Three nailing the robot alien in the head while the other three landed in his chest.

He skidded a few feet and doubled over. Even through the armor, SevenSeven felt the blow and showed it by swearing in whatever language it was that he used. This served to amuse him further. A small device rose on Seven's shoulder and minascule rockets shot from it. He heard a cry from somewhere to his left but payed it no heed as he used his power to make the rockets fly around him, blowing out a side of the wall. Not even the explosive force of wind budged him.

SevenSeven paused to consider his options. The human had gotten better over the five year span, much like he had, however, this new force about him seemed to be one not to be reckoned with. It was the Ectonurite, he was sure. He should've removed the DNA before challenging him, but he wasn't so sure the device would've separated such closely bonded DNA.

A chuckle forced him back into battle. Though, with his quick thinking, he had only been gone for a milisecond. Still, the human dared to laugh at him, the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy? A mere human child at that! No one ever laughed at him and lived to tell about it. He brought out a secret weapon in his arsenal, a last ditch effort weapon that would kill and be physically unavoidable. And the child waited patiently for him, mocking him in a way to say that nothing was strong enough to kill him. He would prove him wrong.

He could wait. He knew he could restrain himself long enough to make the being believe he had a chance before crushing him. He just wished he would hurry because the carefully restrained patience was quickly wearing thin.

It brought out another weapon, another gun. How drole. This was a hat trick used one too many times already. But, it was different somehow. He wasn't sure what it did, but he was sure he was going to find out what it did soon enough. It had a round end on it, solid, like it wasn't meant for shooting. He hoped it wasn't a sun gun. That could probably kill him.

SevenSeven aimed it at him, level with his chest. If all went well, the human's heart would all but explode. He fired it, the gun making a resounding deep boom like one from the bass on a stereo. The air shimmered in waves as the shot quickly closed in on it's supposedly unsuspecting target. It connected with something and the human winced. SevenSeven felt victorious when he suddenly felt himself lifted into the air by an invisible force. The human was smiling at him as he was held upside-down before being thrown into a wall behind him. Debris flew from the impact but it didn't end there. The alien was thrown to the ground several times beforebeing left there.

He tried to stand, possibly get another weapon out of the arsenal on his back when a pressure in his chest made him freeze. He couldn't breathe. The human was slowly crushing him, content to see him struggle for life before ending it all. He didn't have to wait long. The armor bent inward and a sickly purple-ish blue blood shot out, splattering about a near nine foot radius. It was over for the alien. He fell, life gone from his body, to the ground.

Ben retained a look of bemusment beforethe cold power released his mind once more. He gasped as if waking up from a bad dream and clutched his head as if it hurt. He staggared a few steps forward before falling to knees and, eventually, to the ground where unconscoiusness claimed him.

Gwen ran to her cousin, the force blocking her finally gone. She rolled him over and checked him. He was fine other than the slightly pained look he had. She shivered and rubbed her thumb gently across his checkbone, afraid for him rather than of him as any unsensible person would be. He was getting more malicious to the point where he had finally killed someone. It was frightnening, but what scared her most was that there may be no way to stop it.

**

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****There it is, chapter 9. I hope I didn't ruin anything for you guys. I had fun typing this chapter, but, then again, I always have fun typing stuff like this. Anyways, I hope you're having a good weekend and that Alien X doesn't disappoint you (Though I doubt he will, he's pretty awesome). 'Till the next chapter then! ****-Xangabell**


	10. Chapter 10

**Howdy all! Welcome back! Glad to hear most of you enjoyed the Alien X episode. I don't have much to complain about except how it was… Described. Not the alien itself, but the commercials for it. It wasn't a bad episode of anything, no, I really liked it, but when they said weak, me being an angsty, main character torture fic writer, I expected there to be something more of a weakness. Not hindering voices in your head. But I can't complain. I liked the female one. Anyways, I realized something else about my last chapter. I made SixSix and SevenSeven one and the same. Sorry about that, I wasn't aware until a few days ago they were different aliens. We'll just pretend. –whistles obliviously- Sorry to ramble, you can now carry on.**

**Chapter 10**

"I said no! I don't want his damn help!"

"Ben, consider this. He might be the only one who can actually help!" Gwen pleaded, not happy with the idea, but the desire to help him over ridding that pleasure. They were still stuck in the alleyway, what with Kevin still unconscious and Ben only having enough energy to stay awake, much less argue. Gwen knew she could carry them both, but they had parked on rather busy street. It kinda ruined the inconspicuous factor.

"I'd rather jump off a cliff than ask for HIS help." Ben growled, a frown set on his features. Gwen couldn't blame him for acting this way. She had predicted it after all. His eyes dulled for a moment and it looked as if he was going to pass out again. Gwen reached out to catch him, but he seemed to catch himself, shaking his head.

"If I was in your position, I probably would too, but seriously, what else can we do?" Gwen reasoned, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"There has to be something else. Anything. Have you looked in any of those weird books I see in your room?"

"Well, no, but they weren't written for this kind of… situation." Gwen replied weakly. There were quite a few spell books in her room, but none of them had ever mentioned bonding or aliens for that matter.

"That's putting it mildly…" Ben said ruefully. He looked over at his recent victim, unmindful of the sickening amount of purple-ish blue blood that decorated the wall behind it. Gwen couldn't look in the direction he was, knowing her gag reflex was extremely weak despite all they've been through.

"… Will you at least think about it?" She asked him after allowing a minute to pass by.

"There's really nothing to think about. He doesn't want to help me as I definitely don't want help from a person like him." He looked likely he was thinking about something as a calculating line had creased him forehead, but Gwen didn't get a chance to ask what when a long groan emanated from behind her.

"Uhn… Did we win?" Kevin asked somewhat dizzily.

"You okay, Kev?"

"Peachy." Kevin sat up rubbing his head. Even through the concrete layer, that blast to the head had hit him pretty hard. His protective layer had left him, however, when his consciousness had. It took him half a second to regain his composure when he lost it to the corpse before him. His mouth gaped slightly as he took in the scene before him.

"Um, Ben…?"

"Yes, Kevin, I did." He replied, annoyance very plain in his voice. Kevin was up and next to him before he even knew it.

"… That's one hell of a hug you gave him."

"Wasn't physical…" He muttered, sickened with himself. He looked at the ground to avoid his eyes, expecting something of a disgusted comment.

"Then how did you do it? With you head?" Kevin thought he was joking when he saw Ben cringe a little, his expression fading to disbelief. "No way, you're, what… Telekinetic? This Ghostfreak guy was really hiding some serious powers from you."

"I've been thinking about that and I don't think he could access these… powers." He spat the word as though it were venom.

"What do you mean Ben?" Gwen looked to him, started back into the conversation.

"I mean, I think he needed a host to be able to do what I just did. I think it has something to do with how our minds work…" He trialed off as unconsciousness threatened to take him once more. He shook his head, forcing himself to remain aware, though starting to lose. A snap brought him back to his senses as two fingers had been held near his face, being where the source of the loud noise had come from.

"Still with us? You're spacing again." Kevin stated. Ben slapped his hand away from his face, a scowl written on his features.

"Be nice Kevin. He barely has enough in him to stay awake." Gwen scolded, shaking her head. "What were you saying before?"

"I'll explain later. I want to listen to the Omnitrix this time to see if it has any vital info on Ghostfreak." Ben looked at the watch as he said this, before looking up suddenly as thought something had just occurred to him.

"What do we do with him?" Ben pointed at the remains of SevenSeven.

"I suggest we get out of here and let the cops handle it. There's no way no one heard all those gun shots." Kevin said, standing up. He pulled Ben up by his arm despite the protest and led him to the car, pulling his jacket roughly over his head. Kevin allowed him the choice of shotgun, but Ben knew he would be more comfortable in the back. He could think a little more privately back there.

"Where are we going then?" Kevin asked as Ben began to play with the watch.

"My house. Ben gave me an idea that may turn up nothing, but it's still worth the check." Gwen said, pointing down the road as a computerized voice emanated from the back.

"Review file on species Ectonurite?" The small device asked. Ben gave it an affirmative before the little machine began relaying the preset data. "Ectonurite: a being from the planet Anur Pheatos that lives in what is believed to be a hive mind. It controls the power of intangibility, invisibility, possession, telekinesis, and certain forms of telepathy, though the extent of these powers is still unknown. It is the only being known to be destroyed by sunlight as the world it lives upon is in a constant shroud of darkness. It remains as one of the universes biggest living mysteries." The Omnitrix concluded eerily before shutting itself down. Ben seemed lost in thought and Gwen didn't like the slow look forming on his face.

"_You're cousin's worried about you. How sweet." _Ben froze, his eyes wide as he looked around. No way, not while he was awake.

"Ben? What's the matter; are you okay?" Ben looked to his left before looking at her, calming a little when he saw how concerned she looked.

"I… I don't know. I think I'm hearing things. It's okay." He tried to show her he was okay, but his smile just didn't touch his eyes.

"Things like what?" Kevin asked, eyeing him through the rearview mirror. Ben went to make a smart remark about his car, but it interrupted him again.

"_That's not nice to say, Benjamin. I'd think before I said that one."_

"G-Ghostfreak…" He whispered. The entity had finally gained enough power to speak to him during the day. That disturbed him so deeply so that he lost himself to the real world fell into his mind. Not losing consciousness per say, but falling into a trance.

"_You make me out to seem like I'm so unpleasant. It's hard to listen to, though I don't suppose you could talk behind my back, could you?"_ There was a level of amusement there, and Ben heard it.

"How are you talking to me? Wasn't it bad enough when you were tormenting me at night? I look like hell because of you." Ben growled, hatred lacing his words.

"_Oh, you couldn't imagine that was able to talk to you earlier on but, found no need? And it's not my fault you look the way you do. It's typical for humans to blame their own bodily reactions on others."_

"You're haunting my dreams!"

"_Touché." _The phantom laughed raspily, finding amusement in Ben's hatred. _"You are by far the most interesting host I've ever possessed."_

"That interest falls under the category of sadistic." Ben remarked hatefully, spinning in the dark away from where he assumed the voice to be coming from, muttering something that sounded awfully close to "sick bastard".

"_Maybe so, but at least now I'm on your side. So there's no need-"_

"To what? Fight? Yeah there is with the constant threat of you overshadowing me!"

"_I know what you're thinking. You're afraid I'll hurt your cousin and her mate. No worries, as if that happens, it'll be on your head."_ Ben's hands clenched into fists, wishing so much to be able to throttle the biggest problem in his life. Ghostfreak laughed as he read this thought.

"_You may on day get that chance, but it would be suicide considering your current situation. As for now, you are needed elsewhere. I hope we can get a chance to chat again real soon." _Ben made to shout something back when the darkness rushed past him and he seemed to fall back into himself. He shot up from the seat and looked around gathering that he was still in the car, and that they had pulled over.

"You really have to stop doing that, Tennyson, 'cause next time, I'll just sock you." Ben looked to the driver's side seat to see Kevin giving him a look of irritation.

"I'd like to see you live with an insane, sadistic ghost in your head." Ben retorted, returning the mood. He wasn't met with the attitudes he expected then he realized that he had forgotten that he hadn't told them of this one major factor.

"Ben, what do you mean?" Gwen asked, facing him completely turned around in her seat. Ben hesitated, wondering how to explain this as gently as possible.

"I think he just said he had a ghost in his head." Ben put his head in his hands, unable to look at them, knowing he was receiving accusing looks that seemed to wait for the phantom to just jump out and try to kill them.

"Is there more to this than you're telling us?" Gwen voice held a small amount of the accusation Ben was listening for, but the rest was sympathy. He grimaced into has palms at the thought.

"A little…" He mumbled into his hands.

"A little? That's not very little if that freaky alien his floating around in your head." Kevin said, no accusation in his voice, but more of an exasperated tone.

"Not helping."

"This might be a good thing, Ben!" Gwen exclaimed. Her statement had both Kevin and Ben looking at her as if she had grown an extra head. She sighed as she knew she would have to explain. "I mean that if this has become a regular possession, them maybe we could use some kind of exorcism."

"Exorcism? Like in the movies? Cool." Kevin smirked.

"No, not cool. It's not going to work." Ben said, throwing a look at Kevin. Gwen raised an eyebrow as a nonverbal way to ask 'why?'. "It's not like that. His… consciousness is what's bother me. And remember, he's bonded to my…" He let it trail off as they already knew how that went.

"What about his consciousness then? Maybe we could rid you of that." Gwen suggested after a moment of thought. Ben didn't think that would work either, but didn't deny her a chance to help. Besides, maybe she was on to something. You really never knew what with the world they lived in now.

"I finally get to see an exorcism in real life. This is going to be cool." Kevin grinned. He had never believed in the supernatural, but scary movies just had a way with making the customs look so interesting. Ben, however, wasn't looking forward to this. Especially with the fact that this was going to happen to him.

Kevin drove off toward Gwen's house, looking forward to this new idea that may actually do something about their Ectonurite problem.

**

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****Sorry I had to cut it short. I'm glad I did personally. This is now my least favorite chapter. Oh, well. And I apologize for its lateness. I found something else that took my interest. Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. By the same guy who wrote Invader Zim, but I don't suggest it for younger audiences due to intense violence, swearing, gore, and (extremely few) sexual references. One more thing before I go: abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz could you not reference death in your comments? It does nothing to either of us except disturb me a little. No offense for that, I just had to say. Okay, that is all for now! C u -Xangabell**


	11. Author's Note

**Sorry guys. I really tried to delay putting this up in hopes that my writer's block would go away. But, unfortunetly, that doesn't seem so. My interests have been fluctuating lately and this has kind of fallen down on my list. I'm not going to quit on this story, but it may be a few more weeks before I can post anything again. Because of the lack of new Ben 10 episodes, my attention for it is starting to wane. If you guys have anything that could reawaken my interest in Ben 10, then by all means, PM me. Until then, I'm sorry for the lack of updates the next few weeks. In the meantime, I may post another story. A cross-over between Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and Invader Zim, so if your interested, that'll be out there. (Not advertising though lol) Later ya'll!**

**-Xangabell **


	12. Chapter 11

**I have returned! With a vengeance! Just kidding. Lol I'm sure I've lost many of you, my loyal readers, and I feel terrible for not updating in so long so now I'm officially ending the so-called hiatus for you, my precious, precious readers. I have rediscovered my inspiration after a few Tivo-ed episodes of Ben 10: AF, especially loving the Anti-Ben one. (I forget the alien's name so I've been calling him Anti-Ben for a week now.) That one made me literally roll off my bed in laughter. Did anyone else notice that the alien, after he was changed to different colors, looked kinda like Dante from Devil May Cry? Well, anywayz, you guys probably want me to get on with the chapter, so by all means, go ahead, but I have to share a fun fact I found about blood and snow at the end, so stay tuned!**

**(Finally) Chapter 11**

_Thunk. Thunk._

Can't be that one, to thin.

_Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. _

So close, but wrong color, let alone title.

"Need help?" Kevin asked. He was currently laying on Gwen's bed, hands behind his head in a very relaxed position.

"You don't know what to look for. Besides, I'm starting to think it's not here." Gwen replied, allowing another book to fall into the pile slowly forming at her feet, giving a sigh to relieve some of the stress.

"Where would it go? You sure you don't need help?"

"I'm positive," She paused as a thought occurred to her. "Oh, wait. Sometimes my dad borrows my books. I'll be right back." She left the room quickly, her light footsteps fading. Kevin shook his head and looked to his unresponsive friend, only in that state due to the fact he was pouting. Of course, he wouldn't have called it that, but that's exactly was it was. He continued to stare off into the corner, allowing this to happen with a few reservations. If he was able to shoot lasers from his eyes right now, there would probably no longer be a wall there, judging from the intensity.

"Why's this bug you so much, Tennyson?" The glare focused on him and Kevin wasn't fazed at all.

"… I'm tied to a chair and you're asking me why I'm mad?" His tone mimicked his features exactly. For emphasis he yanked on a rope holding his wrist.

"It's going to help. Eventually." Kevin wanted to ask him if he was aware of his lower lip jutting out, but bit his tongue knowing Ben would probably just end up more infuriated. God knew every time he got pissed off something bad happened.

"Yeah, I know." At least he made an attempt to calm himself. He began taking slow breaths, because he didn't want another black out, ropes or no. After feeling a little better, he looked at Kevin again. "I've been meaning to ask, why do you seem so unconcerned about all… this?"

"Have I ever been one to actually freak about something?" Kevin replied, his gaze stuck thoughtfully to the ceiling.

"Your car." After receiving a scowl, he gave a more serious answer. "Well, this is definitely out of our norm."

"How does it help if were both acting worried then? Me 'n Gwen. I mean, she's worried enough and would it really make you feel better if I was too?" Kevin looked to him neutrally, waiting for some uncharacteristic remark.

"Well… No, it wouldn't, I guess." Ben looked down at the ground curiously, wondering how Kevin was so insightful towards personal situations while his people skills rather lacked. Unless, of course, that was a life choice. He did have a point though. Kevin was giving him a sense of stability by acting as though this was normal, rather than panicking or yelling as most people would do. Still, no matter how kind it was, it was strange.

From downstairs, they could hear the beginnings of an argument. Obviously Gwen and her father. A rather heated one too by the way their voices rose every few seconds. Ben tried to tune them out so he wouldn't have to dread being the recipient of Gwen's bad mood.

"_Fear…" _The whispered growl made Ben shiver in surprise. He looked all around the room, but nothing jumped out at him as the source of the noise besides Kevin. But Kevin wasn't able to do a voice of this eerie caliber. He did, however seem to notice the sudden change in facial expressions.

"What's up?" He asked, sitting upright and staring at him.

"I think I'd like to get this started soon." Ben said, his face a mixture of worry and depression. Before Kevin could have a chance to ask what was wrong, Gwen walked back in as though nothing had happened. Though Kevin remained wary about him, he turned to Gwen.

"Is that the book?" She turned to him with a calm smile, holding it out so he could see. "Does that title say Manna in it?"

"Yes. That's why I had high hopes for this. This was the last present Grandma Verdona left before she went back to Anodite. I found it on my bed after she left." Gwen replied, flipping through the pages. "I know a saw a good spell that might be able to help us right… here." She poked the page with her finger.

"Why did you tell us about this in the first place?" Ben gave her an annoyed look from the chair, obviously recovered from the sudden momentary intrusion of his mind. Gwen gave him a rather sheepish look.

"Well, at first, knowing you, I thought you were going to be jealous Grandma left me something."

"I have bigger things to worry about at the moment!" Ben retaliated, shifting violently in the chair as though to stand, but the ropes held there purpose in keeping him sitting.

"Calm down." Kevin warned. Ben took the hint immediately and let his head fall against his chest in an almost meditative pose.

"There's that and I wasn't sure how it was going to react with a DNA bonding. I'm still learning after all." Gwen said in an apologetic tone, going back to skimming until she came upon the page she was looking for.

"So why did you have me tie him up again?" Kevin asked as Gwen moved to stand in front of Ben.

"A just incase if you've seen most horror movies." A whirring sound suddenly eminatted from the floor as it began to gently vibrate. "Don't worry, that's just the garage door. My parents are leaving to get some groceries. You ready Ben?"

"Ready in what sense?" He replied in a somewhat sarcastic tone. It wasn't meant to be mean, but said more in a pitiable sense. Kevin sat cross-legged on the bed, watching attentively as he was instructed in case the alien came soaring out, battle ready.

She glanced at the book and moved it to be held in one hand as the other reached out and lightly rested Ben's forehead. Began a fluent chant that they could only assume to written in the Anodite language. It was almost hypnotizing, but what Ben found disturbing was that nothing was happening and they looked like idiots. He closed his eyes and willed something to happen, anything to rid him of the monster, but nothing came.

He made to speak about how this had probably failed them too, when a sudden surge of power coursed within him. He wanted to cry out, to scream, but he was pulled back into darkness before his voice found him, the icy tendrils pulling him into the very depths of his mind.

He knew where he was by the immensely thick feeling of the place, the almost suffocating feel, but this time, a transparent figure floated before him. He flew back away from the unknown figure. It definitely wasn't Ghostfreak that hovered before him as the phantom didn't have a humanoid form.

The figure's head was down, as though staring at the ground. Ben's natural curiosity would've gotten the better of him if he hadn't felt all the warning signs of danger around him. Who was the figure that stood before him? It was it slowly raised it's head that he had the urge to scream again. The figure before him was a mirror image of himself. Not even a mirror, it was him, but wasn't all the same.

The transparent form bore his features, only, his face was extremely different, frightening. It was deathly pale and boasted fully black eyes save for the purple irises. Black lines ran in jags down it's face and, as it grinned at him, it showed sharpened teeth. This creature before him was him, but held all the signs of Ghostfreak. He desperately wanted to destroy the being before him but his fear held him away, forcing him into an inner battle that he was slowly losing and pushing him further into a sense of utter horror. But, when it spoke, every single fear he held was realized.

"_This is what we've become. This is fusion at its highest and you, dear Ben Tennyson, have outgrown your usefulness. I thank you for your human curiosity that has brought me back into this world, but it is now my time to show this wretched world exactly what I-I mean we, think." _The figure laughed, using his voice, but with a harsher colder tone. But then, he realized, he had begun laughing too. It was uncontrolled, unprovoked, sinister laughter that rang out from within him. He lost himself in it and began to sink into the darkness, the tendrils slowly pulling him under.

He sobered immediately and began to panic, grasping at whatever solid blackness he could find, only, there was none. He raised a hand at the shaking form the now floated above him. The phantom looked down, grinning menacingly as it reached out a hand. It was only to taunt him however as Ben couldn't manage to grasp it. He sank lower and lower until finally, the darkness overtook him for the last time.

"Ben! Ben!! Come on speak to me!" Gwen cried, kneeling in front of him. She had a hand on his cheek and she desperately shouted into his face.

"Come on, man, don't joke like this!" Kevin shook his shoulder but still, they received no response. Halfway into the ritual, Ben had gone rigid before screaming his lungs out, startling them both. After that, it had appeared that he had fainted, but it was seeming less and less so as he remained unresponsive.

"Please, Ben!!" Gwen couldn't help the hot tears that began to run down her cheeks. Thoughts circulated her mind that she had killed her cousin. All his vitals were gone. He wasn't breathing, his heart wasn't beating, he had become deathly cold, and his skin had faded into a grayish-pale. All the signs of a cadaver.

It was all her fault, she shouldn't have done the ritual. She should've studied and practiced more, then maybe…

She threw herself onto Kevin, burying her sobs and tears in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her in a protective and comforting way, still in a state of disbelief. Ben couldn't be killed. He had proven that on too many occasions to count that he could cheat death at every turn. Not like this. There was just no chance in hell. He just couldn't be…

Suddenly, they heard a loud intake of breath. They both quickly turned towards it and saw Ben, in a somewhat upright position, breathing heavily as though in pain. His face was looking at his lap as his breathing began to calm.

"Oh, Ben!" Gwen cried, making to hug her cousin only to be held back by Kevin. Something wasn't right, he could feel it. Something that raised flags within his mind as he stared at his friend. The signals were recognized as Ben began to laugh. Quietly at first but it slowly crescendo-ed until he was looking up at them, a grin that wasn't his held on his features.

Everything that once made him Ben was now gone. Everything that was Ghostfreak had become him, all the way to the deepest violet and black that had become his eyes, to his teeth that had become dangerously sharp.

"_I must thank you, Gwendolyn. That Anodite releasing ritual worked perfectly."_ Though it spoke in Ben's voice, they knew it was Him. Malevolence an outspoken tone.

"Ghostfreak…" Gwen whispered, disbelief riddling her tone. The monster looked at her curiously, calculatingly.

"_I'd much prefer if you used my real name, Zs'Skayr. It's much more becoming of a ruler."_

"What could you possibly rule?" Kevin asked defiantly. He couldn't suppress the shiver that racked his spine at the way the creature twisted his friend's features so coldly.

"_Anur Phaetos. And, soon, planet Earth."_ The phantom began to pull upward, against the ropes that bound him until a loud snap was heard and the ropes fell, coiling on the floor. He stood, examining his new body with a satisfied smile, his eyes resting upon the technology he had so longed for wrapped around his wrist.

"You'll have to go through me first." Kevin said, stepping in front of the door. Gwen still had not recovered, leaning against the bed in impending shock.

"_Don't mock me, human."_With a flick of the wrist, Kevin was sent sailing into the wall to his right, hard enough to crack it, before sliding down, dazed. Zs'Skayr's exit, however had not been the door. He leapt toward it before, gracefully jumping through it. He plummeted a few seconds before a purple flash lit up the night and he was gone.

Kevin rose and rushed to Gwen's side, finding her staring blankly at the wall opposite her, legs pulled up to her chest.

"Now is not the time to sit around." Kevin said quietly, offering her a hand. She didn't remove her gaze from the wall, ignoring the offered hand.

"I've unleashed a monster…" She said monotonously, her eyes finding the ground. Kevin knelt by her.

"Don't even say that. Ben's still in there. He's got to be." Gwen looked at him, tears streaming from her eyes.

"I couldn't help him, Kevin. The ritual didn't work, it made things worse and now, there may be no way to save him…" A sob escaped her lips as she buried her face in her hands. She felt an arm wrap around her, pulling her close.

"Ben doesn't go down so easily, he never has. What would he think about you giving up on him?" Gwen looked at him, anger in her eyes.

"I've killed him, Kevin! And now that damned ghost has him!"

"Don't say that! We can still save him!" Kevin fired back, waiting for her to snap back into her senses.

"How?! There's no time to do anything! He going to destroy the city and-!" She looked as though she had just thought of something as she rose and picked up the dropped book. She skimmed until she found what she was looked for.

"I only finished half the ritual! It was a release then expel!" Kevin stood next to her, looked at the book.

"Great, so we find him, finish the ritual and live happily ever after."

"It's not that easy. We're going to have to find him and then hold him still long enough to get rid of Ghost- Zs'Skayr." Gwen corrected, oddly finding the name befitting such an evil alien. They wanted to think that that wouldn't be so hard, but with Zs'Skayr in control of the Omnitrix, and with powers of his own, there was an ominous sensation that the worst had yet to come.

**

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****There, that wasn't so bad for a re-entry chapter, right? I hope it captured the drama and didn't seem too awful an idea. I leave you to decide. Anyway, my last interesting my friend discovered. It's called blood candy. When you spill blood on snow and let it harden, it bcomes about the density of a hard candy only made entirely of blood. Before you freak out, he only discovered this after his brother and he went deer hunting and some of the blood fell in the snow. It was a bet to get him to try some. There, my last fun fact of the day. Goodnight and see you all next time!**


	13. Chapter 12

**I have returnethed with another chapter! Wow, say returnethed five times fast. lol For once, I actually have no funfacts to share this time around, so I guess you'll just have to read my story. Disappointing, no? **

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**Chapter 12**

Despite what had taken place only moments before, the city was still, as if life had not taken a devastating turn for Gwen and Kevin. No panicking, nothing broken… Maybe Ben had managed to regain control at the last second? It was highly unlikely after the display in his bedroom, but one could hope for the better. For now, they were just focused on finding him in the jungle of buildings that made Bellewood.

There was also the unbearable heavy silence to tolerate. Though, to Kevin, it was already becoming intolerable. He wanted to talk, but he wasn't quite sure what to say. Gwen just seemed to radiate a misery that just couldn't be fixed with just words.

She looked continually out the window without really seeing what was outside. He knew she was thinking what could've gone wrong to create such a violent change while all the while still blaming herself when all that could have happened was that the freakish ghost had just managed to catch Ben off guard. But, then again, who really knew what happened? It wasn't really just part of the unfinished ritual, was it?

"… You see anything?" Kevin tried gently, coaxing her out of her mind. She stirred a little, but didn't look at him as the question registered.

"… No… Kevin…?" Her voice was soft, sad but contemplating.

"It wasn't your fault."

"No, that wasn't what I was going to say. I was going to ask… what do you think will happen if we complete the spell? I mean, for the first half it made him look… made him seem…"

"Dead? Yeah, well, does your book have it listed as a side effect?"

"I mean my inexperience! What if something goes wrong? What if something already went wrong? Kevin, I just can't-"

"It'll be okay, Gwen. It always is. If you keep worryin' like that you'll get old real fast." He looked to her, watching the street lights dance across her face as they drove under them; seeing the small unsure frown remain as they continued on.

He was sure they were going to find him unconscious in some alley, fighting the way he usually did, finally back in control, but upon turning onto the next street, he found that he was completely wrong.

Fires lit up the night as screams rang through the air at blood curdling intensity. People ran in all directions, but mostly past the car. An explosion burst forth as a purple laser shot through the smoke, oddly pitched laughter following right behind it as Jetray flew from the debris. He stopped above the street and quickly changed to Big Chill. The moth-man reminiscent cryptid flew through the air lazily but purposely, freezing the frightened humans who frantically ran from him.

"Ben!" Gwen cried leaping from the car, hugging the pure white Manna book to her chest. The Necrofriggian looked at her from a woman he had frozen to the ground, his expression unreadable as it most usually was. Kevin stood beside her after absorbing some of the asphalt in the road. He was ready in case of an attack, but he wasn't sure he could hit back, even if it was for defense.

"Gwendolyn, how nice to see you again." The Ghost greeted in maliciously happy tones. "Here to see what you have wrought upon the world?" The words staggered her, but she didn't back down, finding it easier to stand up to the face of an alien than that of her cousin.

"I know you're still in there, Ben! Fight back!" Gwen cried, anxiously hoping that her shouts were getting through. Big Chill just chuckled menacingly.

"He's gone. You've banished him into the very depths of his mind. Beautiful work I must say." He mused, raising a clawed hand to his head for emphasis. Was he lying? It was hard for Kevin to tell, and he was quite the experienced liar himself. He did have to be careful though. He knew Zs'Skayr was quite experienced in mind games and damaging Ben's body wouldn't be good if they revived him. Correction, WHEN they revived him. There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

It was hard for him, though to restrain himself from doing everything but destroy the being who overshadowed his friend. Gwen moved first. She opened the book and took a breath but a sound wave knocked her over into the car.

"I… can't… have… you… doing… that." The sonorosion better known as Echo Echo smirked. Kevin had to give it credit; it learned how to change fast. He ran to her but another small alien stood in his way, blasting him back with another super powered wail.

"You… know… you… can't… win… against… him…" The two aliens mocked. Suddenly, the road underneath them rippled and a huge wave of street came crashing towards them.

"Don't talk about Ben that way!" He shouted angrily, watching his attack connect with satisfaction. He was disappointed to see Humongasaur arise from the debris.

"Ben, please! I know you're still alive! You have to be!" Gwen seemed to be okay, but not for long.

"Stop addressing those who can't hear you!" The dinosaur roared, charging at her. The ground crumbled in his wake as he charged through obstacles to get to her. Though Humongasaur was strong, he was slow and that held an advantage for Gwen to get out of the way.

"Yo, ugly!" Zs'Skayr looked to his left to see a piece of building flying at him. It smacked him full on in the face, effectively staggering him back into a building. Gwen saw their advantage in that move. Though Zs'Skayr had the Omnitrix, he had little practice being anyone other than himself. Kevin seemed to see it too.

"Gwen, get started!" He shouted, running toward the gap in the wall upon seeing yet another flash of light. He ducked as a rainbow colored beam of light made its way straight at his head.

"You believe you can win? Let's try your faith in your dear friend!" Chromastone laughed darkly, firing several beams at once. Kevin searched for an opening as Gwen began her chant, pausing several times to avoid the multi-colored beams.

Buildings were crumbling, fires raged on, and the clouds of winter had finally rolled in. It was truly a sight to behold in the quickly decaying city. But there was no time to watch to the rapidly disappearing sights for those trying to save it. Thankfully the people had disappeared, hopefully to safety. Gwen paused again but not because of the constant attacks. A thought occurred to her, a horrible yet unpreventable thought. What if Zs'Skayr found Alien X? He was currently stuck on Chromastone, but he could change at anytime.

The battle was brutal, Kevin taking the most damage. Gwen wanted to get in there and help him, but that was impossible without hurting her cousin in the process. The best she could do for both of them was to continue the Manna centered exorcism, and so she did.

"Are you even trying anymore?" The crystalline alien asked boredly, stopping his barrage to observe the damage. Kevin still stood, but his shield was greatly damaged, still clinging to him in pieces. His head was down as he panted, but when he looked up, he was grinning.

"Please, you fight like a wuss. Now Ben, he presented one hell of a challenge." This obviously irked the alien. He looked angry for a second, but then, he too smiled as though he hadn't played every card yet. Kevin thought what that dark smile could mean. He made a list in his mind of the aliens he had not yet used. Swampfire, Brainstorm, Spidermonkey, Goop… No, not Alien X! He would be unstoppable! Kevin ran at him, trying to stop the transformation without actually knowing how.

He was too late, a flash of the same deep purple light shone and there stood… Ben? The alien looked at his current form as Kevin skidded to a halt, relieved.

"Hm, to many changes I suppose. No matter. This form in only fair on your part, right?" Kevin growled, placing a hand on the metal streetlight next to him, absorbing the steel it was made from. He charged, having a harder time now having to see his true face, yet all the same continued forward.

The phantom could feel how agile this body was just by being in possession of it. He easily evaded the charge, a malicious grin on his face, and grabbed Kevin's arm, whipping him around only to slam him into a nearby wall.

He watched Kevin slowly rise, knowing his opponent was beginning to wear down. Suddenly, something within him seemed to jump and he gasped, grabbing his chest. He looked around for the source of the invisible blow and his violet eyes fell upon Gwen, now standing confidently out in the open, still reciting the written words within the book. He rose, a cold look entering his features. Kevin tried once more, fist raised this time only to have it caught.

"It seems that playtime is over." He hissed into Kevin's face. Before Kevin could find a foot hold, he was thrown into the air at Gwen. She moved out of the way, but a sudden force shoved her into the car. The book flew from her hands and skidded underneath a demolished SUV.

"You know, it is ironic, don't you think?" Zs'Skayr slowly walked over to them, arms behind his back though both continued to be crushed by the invisible force.

"This boy did all he could to protect this disgusting planet and now he will be the cause of its downfall. It's hilarious really. And now he will be the one to destroy you, his very friend and cousin that give him so much life."

"B-Ben…" Gwen coughed, her face contorted in pain. "S-stop…"

"How many times must I tell you that he's-" Zs'Skayr froze, staring straight ahead but not seeing. At the same time, the force against Gwen and Kevin dropped, leaving them on the ground gasping for air.

The ghost hissed in surprise, holding his hand up in an attempt to continue crushing them, but nothing came. The boy couldn't possibly have escaped! He had been locked into the darkest part of his mind, a metaphorical jail cell where none escaped when he came to possess them. It was mentally impossible!

"Having some problems there, Ghostfreak?" Kevin had recovered enough to be cocky, but was still on his knees, rubbing his throat to free it from the tight feeling.

"Don't think that that was my only power, human. Would you like to know what it feels like to have your consciousness suppressed? To lose control and be only able to watch as you destroy what is dear to you?" Kevin looked on in horror. He wouldn't dare… would he? Could he? Maybe it was just talk. He didn't want to stick around and find out.

"Hey, Gwen?" He called timidly. "Need a little help!"

"…Busy!" She shouted back. It was just out of reach, perhaps an inch or so away from her hand. She forced her arm further under the crushed car, slicing open her shoulder in the process. She couldn't use her powers on it. She'd tried. It had some sort of anti-Manna spell on it, so no one could steal it via the alien power, also preventing her from the obvious way to get it. So, despite the awful nick on her arm, she continued to reach, her fingers just barely brushing the spine of the book.

Kevin couldn't run. His energy had been spent and legs refused to cooperate. He was stuck and his once friend was advancing on him slowly, menacingly. He was instilling the fear hidden within the threat; showing him that it was possible and he would do it.

"C'mon Tennyson, I know you can here me! You're not going to let him win are you?!" The panic increased in his voice as he watched Zs'Skayr get closer and closer. The fire reflected in his eyes becoming clearer with each step.

"I tire of your defiance! Become part of the darkness that you fear!"

"Gwen!" Kevin put an arm in front of him, closing his eyes behind it. If this was the final memory he was going to have of him, then he didn't want it. He wanted to remember a better time when their lives hadn't taken such a horrible turn. A time when they were having fun doing what they did. Video games, DNAliens, road trips… He etched them all into his memory and anxiously awaited the feeling of… was it supposed to be nothingness?

He could still feel everything around him. That could be part of it though, part of making the experience all the more horrible because he could feel it. He lowered his arm and peeked open an eye to see. He gazed in surprise when he saw a solid form of pink energy three inches from his face.

He fell back as he realized that the phantom had been a second away from laying a hand on him. He was now trapped, many tendrils of pink energy wrapping around his waist and limbs, preventing him from moving forward.

"Damn you!"

"You okay Kevin?" Ah, his sweet saviors voice. God, he had to do something really nice for her later.

"For now. What about the book?"

"One second!" She crouched once more, this time holding one arm out to maintain the Manna flow, the other reaching perilously close to the snow white book.

"Fools! Idiotic children of dirt! You think this is over?! You cannot win! As long as the boy exists, so shall I!!" Laughter rang from his open mouth, insane and uncontrolled. He tensed every muscle and forced his strength into moving his right arm down, right on Kevin. Every part of him shook, but, to Kevin's horror, he began to move. Though very slow, with his being unable to move himself, he still felt frightened.

Suddenly, Zs'Skayr froze, an expression of terror on his face. He felt his energy leaving him. He turned his head as far backward as it could go to see Gwen, reciting whatever remained in the book.

"No! I refuse to let go! I shall not be beaten by you! You cannot-" He gave a sickening wretching sound and a deep crimson liquid oozed out the corner of his mouth. It ran down his chin and dripped onto the road in a steady flow as he struggled to retain his ties to his host.

He continued to reach for Kevin, trying to seek some form of refuge in a new host body. Kevin tried to scoot away in a desperate attempt to not be possessed. The world seemed to spin around them both when the final words rang out over the fire and chaos. Over the crumbling buildings, and screams.

"-Omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica!!"

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**Ooooh, cliff hanger! Hope you guys like this one! I hate to sound egotistical, but I kind of liked it myself. Anywhoozles, I must take my leave. So if this is my last chapter before Christmas, then I wish you all a very merry Christmas one and all!... Yeah, that was cheezy, but I mean it! **

**-Xangabell 12:30am**


	14. Chapter 13

**[Insert witty opening comment here]**

**Chapter 13**

At first, it seemed as though the spell had failed. Nothing was happening. No immediate dispelling of the monster that dwelled with Ben, no purple light to say that they were finally separated. She began to feel the beginnings of despair when suddenly, the tendrils around her cousin seemed to tighten against her will. She could feel them squeezing his form with enough force to cut his blood circulation, cut his breathing.

He coughed and choked, having no oxygen to actually cry out, as he felt he would be cut into pieces by such a force. Gwen tried to make it stop, but found that she could do nothing, but let the manna continue. She knew she was going to kill her cousin, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

She felt suddenly betrayed by her grandmother having just left such a dangerous book with no instruction on how to use it, or what to expect the ancient words effects were. Though, placing blame was not something she could do. She used it without practice and would now have to bear the consequences.

Tears fell from her glowing pink eyes in fear as she not only watched her cousin slowly be crushed, but felt it too. Just as she had internally given up, her power did something none of them had expected. It entered his body, seeming to melt into the skin, going so far as to even create a hissing burn that made them both cringe.

A sudden darkness fell upon her vision as she found herself seemingly floating in nothingness. She was utterly blind in the darkness and found it was much harder to breath. Was this her cousin's mind? If so, then the final battle would end here. She readied herself, forcing the manna to surround her hands, and pushed forward.

The air hung with a heavy foreboding feeling and, with no discernable shapes, she couldn't help but feel paranoid. It didn't help when it seemed as though the pink light surrounding her hands cast absolutely no light to help her see. Then again, there might not have been anything to see. Ben's mind was not a foreign place to her, but actually being within it was.

Being a manna user at her level, she knew that no mind was the same, but all could be categorized from intelligent to gifted, average to idiotic, and impulsive and emotional to just downright evil. A mind like this however… She wasn't sure. She felt malintent, but also a form of innocence. Perhaps her cousin and Zs'Skayr residing within the same area? No, Zs'Skayr was nothing but evil. It was indescribable, the energy that floated around her.

As she tried to separate her quarreling thoughts, a shadow of a figure fazed into existence within the dim light. Caught off guard, she shrieked and prepared to throw the energy at the being when she realized who it was.

"Ben!" She floated to him as he seemed to just hover, head down, seemingly unconscious. She hugged his form close to her and looked around, making sure the ghost would not appear while she was focused on her cousin.

"Gwen…" She looked down, but found it in vain as she could only make out his silhouette with both of her hands occupied. She put a hand on where she assumed his cheek to be and found she felt nothing. Temperature didn't seem to serve a purpose within his mind.

"Ben, are you okay? What has he done to you?" She questioned sadly, running her fingers through his hair, but found it to be texture-less. Perhaps all she could really feel of his subconscious was its presence.

"…Is he gone?" That cancelled her next question. Apparently, he hadn't seen the phantom either. Maybe he was gone. Expelled before she entered so she could heal the damage. But that didn't quite explain the malintent she still received from the energy around them. She made to answer his question when a something forced them apart, quickly dragging her backwards through the darkness she had came.

"Ben!" She cried. She reached out for him, but he was quickly swallowed by the dark. The force stopped dragging her and she was slammed into something. She could feel everything around her again and she opened her eyes to see the world was still chaotic, but her cousin was no longer the cause. He had fallen forward and Kevin had caught him.

She glanced around to see if Zs'Skayr was now within their realm, but found nothing and sensed no residue of a possible escape. It was unexplainable. Where could he possibly have gone? She seemed to remember something and looked cautiously to Kevin.

"Did he manage to touch you?" She called, running up to him.

"Nah. He was a couple inches away when you got him." He replied, flipping Ben onto his back. "You killed it, right?" His look was confident as though he already suspected the answer.

"… I really don't know. There were traces of evil everywhere, but no ghost to be seen." At least he knew she had gone into his mind and didn't have to explain as such. "But Kevin, I kept getting this really weird vibe off of him."

"Explain it in the car. Trouble's not over yet." Gwen saw him struggle to stand as he tried to pick up Ben at the same time. It was there she realized the bleeding hadn't subsided and his condition was still extremely sickly and pale. She helped Kevin up and steadied him as he carried her cousin over to the car, laying him gently in the backseat. She forced him into the back as well, to make sure no more damage befell him as she was driving, and to monitor his condition. Kevin gave no argument but handed her the keys.

For some reason, none of this felt awkward to him. Having to hold his friend's upper body against the curves and dips in the road while Gwen drove as quickly as possible without killing them all. He knew he should, but it seemed urgency did not make room for awkwardness in situations like this. He did pay little mind to the blood beginning to spot his clothes, but that just made him worry more. These two were the only ones to ever show faith in his existence and he wasn't going to let them go so easily.

"What were you talking about before?" Kevin asked, trying to distract himself from his nagging urge to rest. It took a full minute for Gwen to answer as she drove anxiously down the road.

"I felt something in there Kevin. Something I wouldn't expect from Ben, yet, there wasn't any other source. It frightens me being unable to identify it." There was quite a large amount of worry in her voice and Kevin couldn't find any comforting words in him this time. He tried to compensate by trying to get her to explain further, but the hospital came into view and he knew no words would be exchange until Ben was safe.

* * *

Coming to a screeching halt in front a hospital seemed to be one way to get many a nurses attention as three ran outside to investigate the emergency and two ran back for a stretcher. Kevin found himself poked and prodded as a nurse inspected him for damage on the way in, pushing her off by saying he was fine. The blood on his clothes wasn't his.

Ben was rushed off and they were forced into a waiting room until someone told them otherwise. Waiting was the most agonizing part, and it seemed that the healing powers he had once had had gone along with the ghost, so there was no hope of a short wait.

Minutes ticked by so slowly, Kevin could've sworn that an hour had passed while the clock insisted that not even a minute had gone by. He shifted in his seat, trying to stay awake, finding it more and more difficult as time passed. He searched for words of conversation in his head when he remembered what he was talking about to Gwen. His genuine curiosity instantly woke him up.

"What were you saying before, about sensing something from Ben?" Gwen looked to him, her eyes red rimmed themselves out of her silent tears, her exhaustion, or a combination of both.

"… I've sensed many minds, but I can't place Ben into any of those. He's just… I can't say it was evil despite the malintent, but… There was a strange aura of innocence too…" It seemed as though she couldn't get her thoughts straight as she processed what she felt. Kevin tried to help her despite not knowing exactly what she felt.

"Well, how do you… categorize them?"

"…From all the teens we've been around, I've been able to sense many states of mind. Happy, sad, stressed, relaxed… Even so far as intelligence level. It's excreted as an aura. But Ben's had nothing to do with intelligence or emotion really."

"But you said you felt bad intentions in there? Did Ghostfreak damage him?"

"I don't think that's it… Hold on." She close her eyes as a thought occurred to her, crossing her legs in the waiting chair. She brought up the manna from her memories, slowly going through each, identifying the feel. Was it intelligent? No, that one had been rather stupid. What about stressed? No, not stressed per say… Maybe it really was pure evil. She brought up a memory of Ghostfreak when they were ten. Even then, she could sense things, but was unable to identify what. She shivered. Not that either.

What about… Misguidance? The thought was absurd, but when she brought it up, it matched perfectly with one aura.

"Misguidance…" She muttered. Kevin snapped back to reality and realized what she said. Was he supposed to memorize it? He would've asked what she meant if it seemed like she was done. All he could do was wait.

What else linked to misguidance? Many things could, but few would actually match. If he was misguided, how did Zs'Skayr fit into the picture? She tried to continue along that train of thought, but Kevin nudged her to point out the nurse walking toward them. She resumed her normal sitting position and anxiously awaited the news.

"Is he okay?" She asked, voice desperate the know the answer.

"Well, his condition is very serious. Three broken ribs, a sprained wrist, a slight concussion, and spots of internal bleeding. He's also extremely pale and cold. What happened prior before bringing him?" Gwen looked to Kevin for support. They couldn't exactly tell her Ben had been downtown trying to destroy the city. She was lucky he was a quick thinker.

"We were downtown when one of the buildings collapsed. He got caught in some of the wreckage. We managed to pull him out and bring him here before authorities arrived. Couldn't wait around for them while he was bleeding to death." He managed to say it all with such a straight face Gwen almost believed the story herself. That must've been the other reason for the quick rush. Questions, possibly convicted if they had waited for the officials.

"Oh, I hope it's not terrorist's. They do such a damn good job at what they do." She shivered, obviously believing Kevin's story. "But was he sick before the incident?"

"He had gotten sick a couple of days ago. I'm sure the recent turn of events hasn't helped either." Gwen replied, finding that going along with Kevin's story wasn't so hard.

"I see. Well, he's in surgery right now. Seems one of his ribs pierced his lung. Are his parents aware of him being admitted?"

"I was going to call them after I learned he was going to be okay."

"And you are his… sister?"

"Cousin." Gwen smiled wearily.

"Sorry, I was judging by your eyes. And you are?" She looked to Kevin expectantly.

"More distant cousin." He replied. It was a good lie as only his family would be allowed to see him once he was put into a room. The nurse nodded, giving him a look as though she knew that was a lie, but ignored it the same.

"Well, it's going to be a at least six hours before you can see him. I suggest you go home and rest."

"Actually, if you don't mind…"

"Oh, by all means, you can wait here. I'd offer you a room to get some sleep in, but it seems that more people from downtown are being brought in. Very curious that some were frozen…" Gwen bit her lip. Ben was going to be very distraught when he recovered.

"They could be making anything from over seas." Kevin offered, noticing Gwen's hesitance on the subject.

"Very true. I'll leave you be. I have to tend to the new patients." She walked away, turning down a hall behind them, the click of her shoes on the tile fading into the distance. As soon as she was out of earshot, Kevin looked to her.

"Are you actually going to call?"

"I don't know. I don't think his parents would want to hear that we didn't handle it very well and that their son destroyed downtown."

"Good point." He waited a few minutes to see if Gwen would say anything else before he spoke again. She didn't leaving him an opening. "Uh… what did you want me to remember the word 'misguided' for?"

"One of the aura's in his mind. It was misguidance. Though I'm not really sure how it connects… Perhaps Zs'Skayr was? Evil can be that way sometimes."

"He looked pretty set on what he was going to do." He saw the small frown on Gwen's face and softened a little. "Maybe you just need to rest. I've heard that sometimes the answer will come to you when you least expect it."

"Yeah, from the movie we were watching a month ago." She smiled as Kevin rolled his eyes. The tension seemed to ease as she allowed herself to drift little by little into sleep.

"Kevin?" She muttered, lay her head on his shoulder. He was a little startled by this action, but smiled regardless.

"Hm?"

"Thank you. For the reassurance." He didn't reply as she drifted off right after she said it. He yawned. Perhaps sleep wasn't such a bad idea. It seemed as though sleep was an animal of prey, waiting for his guard to be down because as soon as he shut his eyes, his chin fell to his chest, lost within his own world.

She wasn't sure where she was. A long dimly lit hallway with many doors. Obviously a building of some kind. She walked cautiously, her footsteps creating more of an echo than there should have been. The walls were a tinted grey and every door down the extensive hallway was black. There were small windows in every door so one could easily pear in upon its occupants.

She looked into one window, curiosity getting the better of her. She saw a woman, possibly midtwenties, sitting in the corner, crying. She wished she could get inside and ask what was wrong, but it seemed none of the doors had handles. She continued onto the next door and saw a man laying on a cot, seeming to whistle at the ceiling.

As she went on, she wondered more and more what kind of place she was in. She looked away from the next window, gasping at it's inhabitant who now hung lifelessly from the ceiling. The next door held a man of his late forties, laughing for no particular reason, and the next held a female shrieking at the wall in fear.

She continued to stare at the woman, putting together that she must believe she saw something there. Something that obviously caused her great distress.

'_Much like how Ben had reacted in the desert…'_

She sat up with a loud gasp, awakened as the answer presented itself violently in her dreams.

"Gwen? What's wrong?" Kevin had felt her jerk violently, startled awake by her. The gasp had further alerted him that something was wrong as he wait patiently for her to answer.

"Oh God Kevin…" Gwen choked, a sob escaping her lips. "He's insane."

* * *

"How can you be sure? He seemed perfectly fine earlier." Kevin asked her skeptically. They now stood in front of a window to a room. Ben's room, though he wasn't visible behind the curtain the nurses had drawn. They had managed to catch about six hours of sleep, and the other Kevin had spent trying to calm her. She couldn't be serious. It must've been a nightmare.

Sure, they had suspected this from early on, but they chalked to desert thing up to past trauma as Gwen had felt nearly the same being within the wretched ship of Zs'Skayr's.

"But that's just it. Insanity isn't always blatantly obvious. It can take on more subtle forms. Misguidance is one." Gwen said quietly, wiping her eyes.

"But explain why he looks dead. That's not something insanity can produce." Kevin refused to believe such an outrageous accusation. Ben insane? The two words don't even belong in the same sentence.

"Bear in mind Kevin, he still has Zs'Skayr's DNA. Just not his consciousness." Gwen's face bore no emotion except it's remnants of tear streaks as she stared into the window, unseeing.

"… Maybe the exorcism worked like it was supposed to and you were just-"

"I know what I felt, Kevin, as much as I don't want to believe it either." Kevin was at a loss for words. All this time, while they were trying to be rid of Zs'Skayr…

"All those times he… And a couple hours ago I was…" He could finish any of his thoughts. Ben couldn't have been doing that. Even if he wasn't in his right mind. He had always pictured him as strong, unfazable, but when it came right down to it, he was only human as well.

"You can see him, if you like." The nurses voice was gentle, but it still made them jump. They nodded, both unable to speak. Gwen was little afraid of the state they might find him in.

It wasn't horrible however. His chest had many bandages zigzagging over it, while his right wrist had a small cast on it. He still looked like death however. His eyes had dark circles around them while his skin was nearly grey. It was a sad sight to behold when a person you once thought so strong now lay before you so close to death's door.

"We couldn't get his watch off. It was so tight around his skin." The nurse stated from the doorway, watching them curiously.

"Oh, yeah. I gave that to him when we were little. Never took it off." Kevin said, looking at her.

"Mmm, well, keep it safe. I'm sure it's not only precious to him." The nurse winked and walked out. Kevin stared after confusedly. Then again, it wasn't uncommon for female plumbers to become nurses for an actual job.

Gwen couldn't tear her eyes away from her cousin. She sat next to him on the bed, finding the situation somewhat reminiscent of their time in the desert, only this time was much different. She stroked his hair, happy that this time she could feel it, and watched him. Kevin sat in one of the bedside chairs silently. Nothing could really be said until Ben woke up. How could they explain that he had taken leave of his insanity and hurt people? It would crush him, if he first believed that Zs'Skayr had not been real.

They must have sat like that for twenty minutes until Gwen shifted and suddenly the heart monitor flat lined. Kevin rose up in shock, but Gwen waved him off, showing him that the device had only come off his finger. It was then that Ben began to stir.

"Ben? How are you feeling?" Gwen asked him, griping his arm gently despite how icy it was.

"Uhn… Like I was hit by a truck… I wasn't, was I?" So he didn't remember what he did. That was going to make explaining even harder.

"No, no. Nothing like that." Her voice was almost a whisper, frightened and caring. Ben looked like he was going to ask about her condition, but a group of loud voices interrupted him.

"Another one? I don't know how all of this could have happened without a suspect! Burnt holes, frozen people… I swear, hell must have finally risen on earth!" A doctor ranted beside a couple of nurses as they wheeled a frozen woman down the hallway. Ben immediately sat up, ignoring the pain in utter horror of what passed by his room. Burnt holes and frozen people… Jetray and Big Chill…

"Ben…?" Gwen knew this was going to turn out awfully, but the look on his face only made it worse.

"… I can't… I did…" Ben whispered, the pain obvious in his voice. The heart monitor show his horror by syncing to his heartbeat and, in frustration, he took the small device from his finger and threw it at the wall. He coughed as the motion pained him, but looked as though he accepted it as a form of retribution for the people he hurt. Kevin moved to turn the monitor off as Ben put his hands on his face. Gwen rested a hand on his shoulder.

"… How many?" Gwen looked piteously at him, unable to answer.

"How many?" He repeated upon not receiving an answer.

"It doesn't matter how many-" Ben threw a look of anger at Kevin, silencing him.

"My job is to save people. I can't go around being the one hurting them!"

"It's not your job, Ben. It's just what we do. What is right." Gwen told him quietly, gently forcing him lay down. He refused, pushing her arm toward her.

"At least, he's gone, right?" A form of tension hung heavily in the air at the question. Both Gwen and Kevin looked away, making him choke when the obvious answer presented itself. "He's not…"

"It's not that…" Gwen hesitated. How could she put it so Ben wouldn't want to jump out the window?

"Is he or isn't he… It… whatever…" Ben was becoming increasingly impatient with her evasiveness. There was only one answer after all.

"It's hard to explain, Tennyson." Kevin said, helping Gwen. She didn't have the courage to say it. His look was so stoic, yet there was something about his eyes that made Ben realize the heaviness of the situation.

"Did I- he- do something else?"

"B-Ben… there was no he…" She stuttered, looking at the awful blue tile that covered the floor. Ben didn't understand. He looked helplessly to Kevin for an explanation.

"Zs'Skayr… Never existed." Ben looked like he'd been stabbed with a white hot knife.

"W-what did you…?" He choked, staring at the opposite wall. He never existed. Zs'Skayr had never been real? He looked to them to see if it was a cruel joke but found Gwen had begun to cry and Kevin had stood up beside her, rubbing her arm to comfort her. No joke…

"_That's right, you idiot!"_ His mind taunted. _"It was you who nearly killed Cash! It was you who killed SevenSeven! And it was you who nearly destroyed the city! Almost taking your friends in the process!"_ It laughed at him the in the voice he despised. He wasn't possessed. He was out of his fucking mind! He threw his hands up to his head to make the laughter stop, cringing as a few tears made their escape down his cheeks.

How could he have been so stupid! He should've known his mind would try to compensate for the sudden change by showing him what he believed! It was so obvious he began to feel ill. He wretched, though nothing came up. He felt a pair of hands pull his arms away from him and looked up to see Kevin had grabbed them. He couldn't feel anything as the numbness set in, but his ears began to try and work once more.

"…en! Ben! Are you still with us?" Gwen had her hands on his cheeks, shouting him back to reality. He hissed and pulled away from her as a burning sensation flared up on his face and realized why Kevin had pulled his hands away. He had been unconsciously dragging his nails down his face deep enough to scratch. He dropped his head, showing he was done and Kevin released his arms, allowing them to fall at his sides.

"… I can't believe it… I just can't. All those times when I thought He had possessed me, I was just possessed by my anger. It's so unbelievable I just…" He wretched again, throwing a hand over his mouth. He was so perturbed that it made him ill and bile kept rising in the back of his throat.

"But I think now that realize it, it won't happen anymore. Your mind only gave you what you expected." Gwen comforted, keeping her hands in her lap as she doubted Ben would want to be touched.

"Of course it's not going to stop. Don't you see, I'm insane!" He scowled bitterly. "And that's only the beginning! Haven't you ever heard of the crazy person who never knows they're crazy? That's just the fuck of that."

"Yeah, but now you're aware! You're mind won't deteriorate anymore because now you can stop it!"

"I'd love to believe that, but have you ever heard of such a thing? Insanity is not like a cold. It doesn't just go away."

"No, it's a state of mind." Ben looked to Kevin who had once again taken his seat next to the bed. "It's like happiness, or anger, or even depression. One can be taken from that state by the elements around us. Think about it." His expression look as though he were angry, but Ben knew that was the face he took on when telling of a fact that he was absolutely certain of.

He looked down at the horrid white bed sheets, contemplating what he was just told.

"_Beat insanity? Hah HAH! The Great Benjamin Tennyson can barely deal with saving the world! But, dear boy, how can you save the world from yourself?"_ Ben gripped the sheets tightly, blocking the mental beatings.

"How does one come out of insanity?" He spoke quietly, tracing a finger down the seam of his blue patients clothing.

"Well, if you fall to it, I'll just have to kick your ass back on track." He said it as if it were so simple, but they all new it was going to be one hell of a challenge, but this time, he would be ready. He couldn't let himself fall to his own inner workings. Though part of his mind continued to laugh at him, he wondered if it really would be alright.

* * *

**Low and Behold the chapter to top all chapters! In length and in content. So, Ben was crazy. Hm, even I didn't know that until halfway through the story. Just kidding. This is really the chapter that makes or breaks everything, so I hope I haven't ruined anything for anyone. And don't leave after this! There is still a special thanks to be paid, and a super secret shiny special to a sequel I'm considering. Hope to hear your opinions! Xangabell, signing off!**

**-Xangabell 8:21 PM**


	15. Chapter 14

**Hullo peeps! I'm so sorry about the immensely long wait for my return, but I've been having my own life issues for the time being. But you guys don't wanna hear about that, so let's move on to more important things.**

**For one, that was almost the last chapter. In all technicality, it was, but the story is far from over. Being all writers yourselves, you must know of the plot bunny, the creature what lives in your mind and gives you nice ideas but wont leave you alone until you write them. I have a rainbow assortment bouncing around my head, so a sequel is definitely my next move. As for now, I have a little bonus ending snippet to tide you over as I arrange my thoughts into words. If you guys have questions, feel free to PM me. : ) (Also, I realized I forgot to answer someone's question, I'm not sure who, but to answer it, it was Deviant Art.) **

**Ending Snippet (or chapter 14)**

Crazy? Never. It wasn't impossible, but he knew he wasn't. She was wrong, she had to be. Yet.... He sighed relentingly, falling backwards onto his bed. He knew it was Ghostfreak, but how could he prove that without them saying it was all in his head? People needed physical proof which in this case was irritatingly pointless as he couldn't just pull the phantom out of his brain. He stared angrily at the ceiling wondering why the gods above didn't just let it fall on him.

A sudden buzzing on his left startled him. He flipped to the other side of the bed, battle ready only to discover his cellphone on the nightstand vibrating. He grit his teeth angrily, frustrated at how paranoid he'd gotten over the course of three days.

He walked calmly to the other side of the bed and picked up the phone. Gwen. Of course it was. She'd only tried to get him every other hour. He set it back down and watched it from the edge of the bed until it stilled. He was tired of reassuring her he was fine. All lies but all just to keep her from calling. So far, it was failing. After the third call, he just let it go, tired of fake reassurance, tired of people.

Just reading her name reminded him of the night he had returned from the hospital, and all the drama that followed it. Kevin dropped him off without a word, knowing he'd want to be alone. Gwen didn't seem to understand that as she offered to walk him in and hang around if he wanted the company. He quietly declined the offer and made the mistake of telling her she could call if she was worried.

His parents had actually run out the door. Well, his mom did and tackle-hugged him in what Julie called a glomp. That wasn't so smart as his ribs had been killing him at the time as had his head, but what could he do? She had been worried and no amount of words could fix that as well as sight could. Not that it helped much that he still had a bandage wrapped around his head.

They led him inside, their words meshing into sentences of worry as they tried to talk over each other. He would've found it funny had the situation not been so serious and the conditions rather depressing. Not that that had improved much either. Still, he knew that as soon as they sat him on the couch, an unhappy place in his mind told him that a taboo subject was about to be touched.

His father asked it, whispering it as though the next door neighbors would hear them. Was It gone? Almost worded exactly like that minus the past tense. He had felt his throat tighten so unbearably that he was amazed his parents didn't notice his silent choke. He looked them both in the eyes but quickly they found the floor. It was a full minute until he gave an almost inaudible 'yes'. His mother hugged him again, but he had found it less painful than the first time. The damned phantom's powers still working on healing him even though he didn't want it to.

His father stood, grinning, wondering rhetorically why he had left them in suspense. Through his numbeness he managed a smile, passing it off as a moment to behold. His father ruffled his hair at that comment and offered him dinner that Sandra had prepared upon his return. The tightness of throat left only to be replaced by a nausiating knot in his stomach.

He stuttered an excuse pertaining to a prefered need to sleep. Carl nodded, sending him upstairs as his mother bid him goodnight. He stole silently up the stairs, grateful for escape, but the knot didn't vanish. He fell face first onto his bed and that's how he had found himself now. He had moved of course as no one could sit still for seventy-two hours, but the light stepped pace was already beginning to wear down the carpet in front of his bed.

His parents had worried. He never ate in front of them. Truthfully, he never ate at all, finding nothing but a sickening thickness that seemed to block off any thoughts of food. He did, however, wash clean dishes so that when they walked in, they didn't think he was starving himself on purpose. They also seemed to always comment on his sleepless appearance. Another thing he didn't do, but this was voluntary. His dreams were never pleasant, even in the sedated sleep of the hospital. The things he saw…

He shivered on the bed and rolled onto his stomach, looking for a distraction. He found his closet open and cocked his head slightly, wondering when it had been opened. His mom maybe? She did do maid service while he was in the shower, trying to help his recovery anyway she could.

The closet wasn't very organized, jackets and old toys thrown lazily into the small space. He noticed something behind the door black and white spotted; his soccer ball. He looked at it consideringly for a moment before kicking it, a little harder than he meant, into the closet where it bounced over the toys and clothes before settling into the back of the pile.

He gave it one last look over before turning around to deepen the wear on the floor. As soon as he turned, a light thump sounded behind him. He whipped around, grabbing his chest and swearing. A small doll lay on the floor, one that Julie gave him two months ago. He smiled a little as he thought about her, happy that she had gone to Japan to celebrate the up coming holidays with her family. She didn't need to see how much he had regressed.

Upon being lifted, the dolls features became clearer. It had large innocent black eyes and a small smile on it's rather large head. It's raven hair was cut short at the shoulders, a couple locks pulled back into a small pink bow. It wore a small dress to match the bow that cut off to reveal featureless limbs. She had made it herself and given it to him, a blush showing how self conscious she was of it. That was their first kiss.

He felt slightly contented at the memory when he remembered where he currently was in life. The feeling vanished upon release and he found he could not call it again. He frowned, wondering if this was a new form of psycosis he just developed or if it was Ghostfreak. This brought him back to pacing in thought about possession or mental stability, the doll left on his desk.

"_He's still with you, you know…" _He froze, looking at the wall before him. More voices? He put a hand on his forehead, feeling his preusual headache returning. It was almost as if a child had spoken to him, a little girl maybe no more than eight. It was almost as if she had been standing right behind him His gaze traveled back to the desk..

He walked over and picked up the doll. It's head lolled in his hand, the perpetual smile facing the ceiling. It couldn't have been. He must be delusional from lack of sleep. He shook his head, trying to rid it of the ridiculous thoughts.

"_He's always been with you." _He dropped the doll in surprise, backing a few steps from it. Was it really talking to him? No, it couldn't be. Had Julie forgotten to tell him it talked?

"_Mommy doesn't know I talk. You're special."_ It was reading his thoughts. It was self aware. His stomach began to twist into knots as his nausia returned full force.

"_Let's play a game!"_ It shouted happily, a girlish giggle invading his mind, cancelling all other thought. He couldn't stand it any longer. He dashed to the bathroom and held himself over the sink, gripping the sides harder until his knuckles turned white. Nothing came when he gagged as nothing had been in his stomach previously, but his body didn't let up despite the nothingness and his head ducked. As his image disappeared from the mirror infront of him, another appeared behind it. That of a menacing entity that stood and watched him purposefully.

He leaned up to recover and breathe, unsurprised when it seemed as though his very corpse watched him from the reflective surface infront of him. His mind hazed over and the room seemed to spin at an increasingly faster pace until he could take it no longer and ducked back into the sink. The entity appeared closer and began to reach for him, bloodlust in it's eyes.

"_Let's play!"_ It shrieked again, a more sinister tone becoming clearer in it's voice. Just as he thought he couldn't take anymore, everything became clearer once more and the entity behind him faded away, seemingly satisfied. But when he looked up, it was not his face that smirked in malevolence back at him, but that of a monster with piercing purple eyes and sharp teeth that could rip one's throat out.

"… Yes," The creature said in rapturously dark tones. "Let's play."

* * *

**Hn… Not so happy with this, but I do hope this can satisfy you while I get my thoughts in order. This is a little "what-the-hell" piece that will connect much later on. An epilogue if you will. And yes, I took a small chunk of an ending piece from a video game and mangled it to fit into this, so if you can guess what it is, you get a cookie. I promise I'll try to update more often. Try looking for the sequel next week under my name (my subscribers are already set =) and I promise it will be there either before or on Friday. I don't have much longer before I get booted off here, so, until next time! Thanks so much and much love to you all!**

**-Xangabell**


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